Blizzard faces an impossible choice, but choose it must

It’s a little less than a year since BlizzCon 2018 went wrong. To cap off the opening ceremony for its annual fan event, Blizzard unveiled a new smartphone game called Diablo Immortal, co-developed with Chinese company NetEase. Fans from Blizzard’s Western, PC gaming heartlands weren’t slow to voice their displeasure online – or, embarrassingly, at the event itself, during Q&A sessions with developers. This wasn’t the Diablo game they wanted. It wasn’t them.

The unveiling was a PR disaster – a predictable and avoidable PR disaster – at a difficult time. Much loved, player-focused founder Mike Morhaime had just stepped aside as president. A few months later, the studio would make widespread layoffs in tandem with – or as some suspected, dictated by – its more commercially ruthless merger partner Activision. Fans’ sense of entitlement went hand-in-hand with a not unfounded anxiety that their favourite developer might be losing the plot.

Since then, Blizzard made the most of a surge of nostalgic goodwill around the launch of World of Warcraft Classic – a literal fan service – and laid careful plans for a charm offensive at this year’s BlizzCon. If the event went well, it would put Blizzard’s reputation with players back on track.

Yet now, with BlizzCon 2019 just two weeks away, all that work is at risk of being overshadowed by another fan backlash. Once again, the controversy has its roots in Blizzard’s attempt to straddle the Chinese and the Western markets, but this time it is far, far more serious and potentially damaging.