Yet more of the biggest Diablo Immortal streamers and community figures are calling it a day on Blizzard’s RPG game, with ARPG streamer Wudijo saying he plans to quit and community site Maxroll announcing that it is closing its dedicated Diablo Immortal branch. This follows several other high-profile names recently walking away from the free-to-play game, such as Quin69, who dramatically deleted his character after spending $15,000 to get one max rank legendary gem.
“Right now we are still the reigning immortals on the dark wanderer server,” says Wudijo in a YouTube video, “but once that one is over I guess this is gonna be the time for me to pull the plug entirely.” Wudijo, who has played Blizzard titles including Diablo and Warcraft at a high level for over a decade, says he isn’t planning to release any more YouTube videos or guides for Immortal, and adds that many of his friends “have quit the game or are also demotivated” about playing it. He plans to finish off his clan’s current reign so as not to “let anyone down.”
This decision follows that of other big name Twitch streamers and YouTubers associated with Diablo and other Blizzard games including Quin69, Bellular Gaming, and Asmongold, to step away. Bellular says, “I wanted to review this game – I can’t. If I never have to talk about [Diablo Immortal] again, it will be a good thing.” Asmongold adds of the game, “It’s brought in hardly any new ideas, except for the ideas that come from the monetisation department.”
Elsewhere, community site Maxroll – which covers both Diablo 2 and 3 as well as other similar games including Lost Ark and Path of Exile with resources and guides – has announced that it is shuttering its Diablo Immortal branch. “Cancelling a game we’ve cumulatively put 10,000+ hours of work (and a ton of developer money) into is not something we do lightly,” the post reads, noting that Maxroll has never before discontinued a branch. However, it cites the “predatory pay-to-win system” that plays on gambling impulses as well as “unrewarding gameplay” and general community disappointment as reasons for the decision.
Maxroll says that ending support for Diablo Immortal is “about doing the right thing,” and that the team discussed what it would take to reconsider the decision before coming to the conclusion that “we don’t envision Blizzard implementing a remedy strong enough to truly bridge that gap.” Maxroll notes that their pre-existing content will be kept live on the site for a while longer, but without any further updates.
There have also been multiple recent threads on the Diablo Immortal subreddit about players leaving, citing boredom in the endgame or a feeling that players who are paying have too significant an advantage over free-to-play users. General user dropoff can be tough to judge – most games tend to lose players over time, after all – but seeing multiple big streamers who have a track record of sticking with Diablo and other Blizzard titles definitively plant their foot and step away from Immortal certainly doesn’t bode well for the game’s future.
Recently, new calculations estimated that a finished Diablo Immortal build could cost as much as $500,000. Blizzard is already teasing the first Diablo Immortal update, so we’ll see soon whether their changes can get any of these lapsed fans to return or if the damage has been done. If you’re still playing, we have the best Diablo Immortal builds to ensure that you maximise your time with the game.