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Diablo Immortal delayed in China, stocks plummet

Currently, there’s no updated release date for Diablo Immortal in China.
diablo immortal logo and characters
Credit: Blizzard

Diablo Immortal has had a rough go of it and now, it’s about to get worse for Blizzard and NetEase. The Chinese version of Diablo Immortal is not releasing at its expected time.

The game was just days away from releasing in China when it was suddenly pulled and delayed. While details are murky, it seems like the perfect storm of issues were the cause. NetEase stated the team wanted to make “multiple optimisation adjustments.”

Additionally, a Blizzard employee posted an anti-Chinese post on Weibo, China’s go-to social network. The post (from Blizzard’s official account) vaguely referenced President Xi Jinping, asking “Why has the Pooh not stepped down?”

In China (and around the world), some people use the character of Winnie the Pooh to mock China’s Present. So, you can see the issue with the vague post.

It’s not clear if that actually has anything to do with the Diablo Immortal delay, but we believe it is definitely a possibility. Due to the news, NetEase stocks fell more than nine percent.

diablo immortal classes stylized
Credit: Blizzard

This isn’t the first time Diablo Immortal has struggled in China. In February 2021, the game received its official license from Chinese regulators. Shortly after, the license was pulled for nearly nine months over unspecified reasons.

It’s not clear when Diablo Immortal will release in China. But we’ll continue to update this post as information is made available.


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