Blizzard’s free-to-play MMORPG Diablo Immortal has certainly courted its fair share of controversy since its launch back in June. However, the online furore around the game’s microtransactions hasn’t cut through too deeply in terms of players. It’s been revealed that the game has now hit more than 30 million players, which in turn has net Blizzard a healthy return on their efforts so far.
The figure was shared in a recent tweet on the Diablo Immortal account, which demonstrates the astounding number of installs the mobile and PC game has managed to generate so far.
These figures certainly seem to show an improvement upon the game’s early reception. Back in early June when it first launched, the game was ranked on Metacritic as being Blizzard’s lowest-ever scoring game, predominantly owing to the game’s inclusion of microtransactions. One user on Reddit had calculated that to fully upgrade a character in Diablo Immortal would cost over $100,000, which obviously didn’t sit well with many players.
While the game’s use of microtransactions has generated concern amongst many in the gaming community, it’s clear that players aren’t letting the issue stop them from enjoying the game. It’s important to consider that Diablo Immortal was only very recently released into the market in China, where it stormed the download charts almost instantly. However, it appears that the game itself has struck a chord globally, despite the issues of its questionable monetisation strategy.
These player numbers will have translated into very healthy profits for Blizzard. The mobile games market analysts SensorTower have used their intelligence data to work out Diablo Immortal’s estimated revenue generation, which now sits at over $100 million, thanks to global player spending across the App Store and Google Play. While the majority of Diablo Immortal is playable without having to pay for content, the purchasable in-game modifiers and other bonuses certainly seem to help boost progress or enhance the experience for many players.
Monetisation issues aside, it’s clear that Blizzard is currently onto a winner with Diablo Immortal, however long its current success lasts for.