Why 'Diablo Immortal' Can't Smile Despite Ranking No.1 in Korea, the US, and Japan

Sales Remain Outside Top 8-10
Story Structure Leads to Continuing Ending
Impact of Reduced Monetization Model and Various Errors

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Blizzard's core intellectual property (IP), "Diablo," has returned to mobile after 10 years. As a game that once caused a worldwide sensation, it continues to enjoy hot popularity immediately after its release, but revenue prospects are not bright.

According to mobile data analysis platform Mobile Index on the 7th, Blizzard's new title "Diablo Immortal" ranked number one in downloads on both Google Play and the App Store in South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Released on the 3rd, Diablo Immortal attracted intense interest even before launch, with 35 million global pre-registrations. It is the first Diablo series title in 10 years since the release of "Diablo 3," and unlike the original, it is the first to be introduced on a mobile platform. In South Korea, it recorded over 1 million downloads within a day of release.

Compared to the initial popularity, revenue is considered disappointing. On the same day, based on Google Play, it ranked 8th in South Korea and remained outside the top 10 in the United States and Japan. This is because it applied a system where players can see the ending by following the story like the existing Diablo series and reduced the monetization model. Due to its large size exceeding 10GB and high system requirements, some devices experience errors such as screen glitches that make gameplay impossible. Although it supports both mobile and PC, the low completeness of the PC version is also a problem.

Domestic game companies plan to release major new titles to compete with Diablo. Wemade will launch its new title "Mir M: Vanguard and Vagabond (Mir M)" on the 23rd. After releasing it first in South Korea, they plan to enhance the game's completeness and introduce a global version with play-to-earn (P2E) elements. Netmarble is preparing to release its new title "Seven Knights Revolution" in July.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.