Diablo Immortal Defended by Blizzard's Boss
Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Ybarra defends the controversial microtransactions in Diablo Immortal, claiming that it is possible to complete the game in 99.5% without any monetary contributions.
'The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on,' is how one can briefly sum up the current storm surrounding Diablo Immortal. Despite the great dissatisfaction of fans, who complain about the studio's latest game being riddled with microtransactions, the title earns significant revenue from these payments. The game, which is only theoretically free, generates more than $1 million every day thanks to monetization (you can find more information on this subject here).
Blizzard chief absolves Diablo
Oil to the fire will most likely be added by a recent interview of Blizzard Entertainment's CEO, Mike Ybarra. The man spoke to the Los Angeles Times among other outlets, about the company's work culture in the face of a number of ongoing lawsuits targeting the studio and the reforms brought about by them, as well as the company's ambitions for current and future games. The aforementioned oil added to already raging player discontent will likely be Ybarra's defense of monetization system in Diablo Immortal.
"Noble" principle
According to Ybarra, during the development of the above work, the team was guided by the following principle:
"‘How do we give a free ‘Diablo’ experience to hundreds of millions of people, where they can literally do 99.5% of everything in the game?’ [without spending money - ed. note]"
The Blizzard chief also added that monetization, which is the bone of contention in the whole affair, appears only at the end of the game..
"The philosophy was always to lead with great gameplay and make sure that hundreds of millions of people can go through the whole campaign without any costs. From that standpoint, I feel really good about it as an introduction to ‘Diablo,’” declared Ybarra.
Most players don't pay
As we read in the Los Angeles Times, according to Mike Ybarra the vast majority of players do not spend any money in Diablo Immortal (the CEO did not share exact numbers), yet we know that the title is still making hundreds, if not millions of dollars a day.
Pay up or you're just a minnow
It's hard to disagree that most game can be completed without spending money - 99.5% of the game is a debatable value, but for many it still can't alleviate the pain of encountering a paywall in the endgame, often dropping like a bolt from the blue.
The PvP system in Diablo Immortal also demonstrates the huge power dissonance between non-paying players and whales with beefy accounts. All of this shows how much money can polarize a community, even if it only happens in the endgame.
