Diablo IV has been leaked via a magazine advertisement.
German gaming magazine GameStar’s next issue (set to launch October 23rd 2019 or now for digital subscribers) contains an advert for The Art of Diablo on page 27.
Curiously, GameStar’s own website reported on the advert. Twitter user Julian S posting a clear image of the advert, which you can find the relevant section below:
In English, the German text says:
“Featuring over 500 artworks from Diablo, Diablo II, Diablo III and Diablo IV, this book features many noteworthy artworks created for Blizzard Entertainment’s iconic action role-playing game that has given generations of fans everlasting nightmares.”
The artbook is set to launch November 3rd, 2019. The book’s Amazon listing makes no mention of Diablo IV in the product description.
We will keep you informed as we learn more.
The debut was most likely supposed to occur at this year’s BlizzCon 2019 (running November 1st and November 2nd). Unnamed sources claim Diablo IV was pulled from announcement at BlizzCon 2018. Whatever the case, Diablo Immortal for smartphones was announced at BlizzCon 2018, resulting in extremely negative feedback from fans.
Though the greater PR disaster came from this year. Following the pro-Hong Kong protest statements from professional Hearthstone player Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai and Blizzard Entertainment’s suspension of the player, the internet exploded in condemnation of Blizzard.
This was only made worse when Blizzard’s Chinese social media further condemned Blitzchung and stated “We will always respect and defend the pride of our country.” In addition Overwatch Esports Assistant Coach Justin “Jayne” Conroy was forced to delete a tweet condemning Blizzard’s actions.
Fans turned Overwatch character Mei into a symbol of the Hong Kong protests, Hearthstone caster Brian Kibler quit the tournament, former Blizzard Producer Mark Kern joined the Boycott Blizzard movement, Blizzard employees walked out in protest, a collegiate tournament team was banned for conducting a similar protest (after the team complained they were not banned initially), and even US Senators condemned Blizzard’s actions in an open letter to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.
Blizzard finally released a statement, revealing they had returned Blitzchung’s confiscated prize money and reduced his suspension time. The statement also claimed that “relationships in China had no influence on our decision.” We recently looked into Blizzard’s financials to see if that was the case.
