Players have been ripping Diablo Immortal apart, dropping its user score on Metacritic to near-zero values. It is now the lowest-rated Blizzard game ever, excluding remasters and other rereleases. However, the title continues to generate money on mobile.
At the time of writing, the iOS version of Diablo Immortal, which is also available on PC, has a user score of 0.8/10 on Metacritic. In contrast, it received 81/100 from critics.
This score makes Diablo Immortal the lowest-rated new Blizzard game and third lowest-rated title in the studio’s history overall, only behind Warcraft III: Reforged (0.6) and the Classic version of World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade (0.4).
Although some players praise Diablo Immortal for its great visuals on mobile and fun gameplay, the main criticism is aimed at the game’s monetization. Many users rip Blizzard apart for adding pay-to-win mechanics, which also ruin the PvP experience.
“It would actually be a decent game, but it is designed to bully the mind of the weak and milk them for all your money’s worth. Max progression will take a decade or you can just spend 100k dollars on it” (Jimdalf)
“This is not a game, it is a Casino” (Dexter307)
“This is a pure casino game targeted at children and addicts. This is Las Vegas masquerading as a video game. It’s a way of circumventing gambling laws to bankrupt the poor. And the worst part of all is how brainwashed and programmed some gamers are into thinking this is acceptable” (Veskr)
As we previously reported, Blizzard’s latest title generated almost $800k on iOS and Android in the first 24 hours since its launch on June 2. Despite all the criticism and controversy surrounding its monetization, Diablo Immortal continues to generate money, reaching $6.3 million in revenue on mobile to date (via AppMagic). The game was also downloaded 5.2 million times.