“Essentially [Diablo Immortal] exists because we’ve heard that China really wants it,” said a current developer. “It is really for China.”

Three Blizzard sources told me that the original plan for Diablo Immortal had been to release it only in China at first for a few months or maybe a year, in large part to test it out among Chinese fans before releasing it in the west. “The quality bar in the Chinese market, especially for framerate, is extremely low.”