Is Blizzard Back?
Diablo 3 came out on May 15, 2012, and a young me screamed in frustration when my laptop couldn’t run it. I poured over guides to understand what a GPU was and figured out how much RAM my computer had: not enough. Upon becoming somewhat literate in PC graphics, I put together the best presentation to my parents as to why I needed a $1,700 laptop to play a video game. Today, I have to explain how video games work is somehow my job thanks to the legions of hell from Diablo 3
Back in 2012, Blizzard was at the peak of its powers. While World of Warcraft’s peak arguably came around 2006, the game was still going strong. Blizzard had also released the long-awaited Starcraft 2 and was soon to release future money-making blockbusters: Hearthstone and Overwatch. Blizzard may not be the Apple of video games, but it was one of the few developers alongside Valve, Naughty Dog, and Rockstar that when they released a game, it was an event.
Diablo is one of those genre-defining games. You may not have ever heard of it, for shame. But if you’ve played a video game in the last three years, then you know acquiring loot from fallen enemies is systemic to modern gaming. Diablo defined that. It was the first smash everything, loot gear, rinse and repeat game. And in my opinion, it’s the best of them all.
In the coming days, Blizzard will release some highlights of how many people played the Diablo 4 beta. And it’s going to be a lot. Last week’s closed access test saw 1 million players hit level 20 and more than that certainly logged in. I wouldn’t be surprised if 5 million people tried Diablo 4 this weekend, and I’m likely severely undercounting.
Building a live-service, endlessly replayable game is the North Star of video game development. Every developer wants the next Destiny, World of Warcraft or League of Legends – games players will log into every day and spend hundreds of dollars buying pretty items that make their character’s armor glow. Diablo 4 is certain to have a strong launch off the back of this beta, and the ball will be in Blizzard’s court to continue to nurture a rabid fanbase. If it can keep the balance of providing enough of a carrot to incentivize some players to spend money while other plays grind for rewards, then Blizzard may truly be Blizzard again.
Griffin Burrough is a senior account executive in the Washington, D.C office for A+P's Technology practice.
Category: Technology
