Mike Morhaime (left) and J. Allen Brack at BlizzCon 2018.
Mike Morhaime (left) and J. Allen Brack at BlizzCon 2018.
Categories

The DeanBeat: A dust-up over Diablo: Immortal has far-reaching implications

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 6 min

For Blizzard Entertainment, the dust-up over the announcement of the mobile game Diablo: Immortal came at a bad time. Our review editor Mike Minotti was there at the BlizzCon fan event, where Blizzard cofounder Mike Morhaime went onstage for the last time to introduce J. Allen Brack, the new president.

Brack’s warm introduction by Morhaime was meant to convey continuity and confidence in the future. The keynote talk started well enough, as Brack was the longtime producer of World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s biggest game. But it ended in a PR disaster, as Blizzard closed the show with no mention of an upcoming Diablo PC/console game. Instead, it showed Diablo: Immortal.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.