With a daily revenue of over $1 million, Blizzard turns Diablo Immortal into a 'money maker' with its pay-to-win mechanics

Diablo Immortal serves as a curious example of the situation of modern-day gaming and proves that quality might not be necessary for success. Despite being available on PC, it is primarily a mobile game and serves as the first foray for many into the world of Diablo. Unfortunately, while the core gameplay is quite solid and exciting at times, the game has already built a notorious reputation regarding microtransactions.

Free-to-play mobile games with microtransactions are a common phenomenon. After all, the developers have to sustain their projects and earn back the operational costs. As a result, not expecting microtransactions in Diablo Immortal would have been childish, but no one could have imagined how this system would be incorporated into the game. When the game's director had previously claimed that gears couldn't be bought directly, some sighed a breath of relief. However, such a move has been made redundant by the system that has been incorporated. To make matters worse, a system like this could become common in the future as it has done a world of good for the game's publishers, Blizzard.

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Diablo Immortal generates a massive revenue for Blizzard despite heavy criticism

According to the website AppMagic, Diablo Immortal made $49 million in the first month since its release. The numbers comprise the total revenue across all available platforms. The numbers seem to be on track based on the revenue in the first two weeks, which has earned the publishers close to $25 million.

For any video game, this is a massive commercial success. The only video game from Blizzard that comes close to this number is Hearthstone, which has been out for a long time. However, Diablo Immortal did not need five years as it's already closing the $50 million revenue mark.

Interestingly, the average daily revenue has declined compared to the opening week. This is expected as the excitement around a game's launch week always tends to be more. However, several issues related to the title have come out since it was released.

While players can't obtain gems directly from the in-game shop, they can acquire legendary gems. These gems are so powerful that they give a massive boost to those who use them. Unfortunately, these legendary gems come in five grades, and to make matters worse, the 3-5 star gems can only be acquired from legendary crests.

The only sustainable way to acquire these crests is by using real-life money. However, players will still not be guaranteed a 5-star gem as the crests have a gacha system. While there is a pity meter, it costs a significant amount of money to guarantee one. Plenty of streamers and other players have spent huge amounts to expose the system.

There are other monetization mechanics in the game that make a difference when someone uses real-life money. Diablo Immortal has an active PvP scene, making it extremely unfair for those who opt for the free-to-play model. The potential chances for these players to earn something get even lower as the whales are likely to dominate the arenas.

Interestingly, more games are going towards the free-to-play way, and many fear that the future of gaming is doomed. While Overwatch was a premium experience, Blizzard has announced that Overwatch 2 will be free-to-play. Hence, Blizzard appears to know what the problems are with Diablo Immortal.

It was recently stated that Diablo IV won't have such microtransactions, and it will be a premium experience. Thus, it wouldn't be wrong to conclude that Blizzard knows exactly what the problem is, and they perhaps even know what the consequences of monetization in Immortal will be. However, the financials justify why they did what they did. While PC players can save trouble by playing Diablo IV, the mobile market will remain a money sinker in the near future.