Today Diablo Immortal will finally debut in China, which is what – at least until a few months ago – was considered one of the most important markets for gaming, especially for smartphone games. Over there release in China it will take place with more than a month delay compared to the game’s international debut.
On June 19, NetEase – the company that oversaw the development and distribution of Diablo Immortal along with Activision Blizzard – announced that the release of the title in China had been indefinitely suspended. The developer had explained that it would take several weeks of work to optimize the game.
In reality, the delay is not due to technical reasons. Instead, the company collided with the nasty censorship of the Chinese government. The incident dates back to May 19, when NetEase posted a message on social networks deemed “disrespectful” to China’s President Xi Jinping. The post in question contained a pun that some Chinese users believed to be a reference to a meme against the Chinese president.
In the past, internet users had joked about Xi Jinping because of its resemblance to Winnie The Pooh, the bear made famous by Disney. For this reason, Winnie the Pooh he is in fact a banned character in China and any reference to the bear is considered an affront to the reputation of the head of government.
As absurd as this may seem, this would be the very reason for Diablo Immortal’s sensational delay in China.
Meanwhile, Blizzard Activision’s mobile video game has been met with harsh criticism in the West. The specialist press and gamers have challenged the video game’s extremely aggressive monetization strategy. Despite the allegations, Diablo Immortal has racked up more than $40 million in revenue in just a month of its debut.
Source: Lega Nerd
