Diablo Immortal: What's The Difference Between The Mobile And PC Versions?
To say the absolute least, "Diablo Immortal" — the latest release in Blizzard Entertainment's iconic dungeon crawler series — has been met with some resistance. A game meant to be optimized for mobile play, the announcement for "Diablo Immortal" was met with near universal disdain from gamers and even led to a 7% drop in stock price for Blizzard in the immediate aftermath of the announcement. Without question, "Diablo Immortal" was not the title "Diablo" fans wanted or asked for.
However, that isn't to say that Blizzard hasn't attempted to rectify the pushback from its customers. In April, Blizzard announced that a version of the "Diablo Immortal" will also be coming to the PC platform, which is traditionally a more suitable and preferred platform for a "Diablo" game in the eyes of fans. As Blizzard explained at the time of the announcement, this decision was made in response to numerous requests from longtime fans of the franchise. But how will the PC version of "Diablo Immortal" differ from its mobile release?
The PC version of Diablo Immortal is only a beta version
While releasing a PC version of "Diablo Immortal" might seem like a fair compromise to some, once shouldn't expect it to be one-to-one with the mobile version of the game. In the lead-up to the game's release, Blizzard has maintained that the mobile version of the game is still the company's first priority. As such, the PC version has been classified an "open beta," as it has not had the same lengthy development cycle as the mobile game. As such, fans shouldn't expect the PC version to have nearly as much optimization or polish as the mobile version.
"'Diablo Immortal' on PC is an experiment from Blizzard," the press release states. "We didn't originally plan to put this game on desktop—but as soon as it became a possibility, we knew we had to take the time to make it happen."
The PC version, however, is laden with opportunities for experimentation. In the official press release that revealed the PC beta version, Blizzard said that PC players will have unique opportunities exclusive to the platform, such as enabling controller support in addition to the traditional W-A-S-D setup. Blizzard has also said that the PC version's beta phase is intended to lead to a fully-optimized version of the game at some point down the line.
Minor UI changes
The differences between a mobile phone display and a PC monitor are rather vast, to put it mildly. Most mobile devices will have, at best, a 7 to 8-inch display. Meanwhile, some of the top-of-the line PC monitors today vary greatly, from more compact 24-inch monitors all the way up to what are essentially mini 4K 55-inch TVs. Because of this disparity, Blizzard has utilized some UI scaling in order to improve the experience for "Diablo Immortal" players on PC.
"'Diablo Immortal' was built for mobile first, meaning UI elements tend to be larger while accommodating phone screen sizes," Blizzard said of the game's HUD. "Scaling down the HUD was one of our first priorities—we want you to be able to see the game while also not accidentally clicking on the UI!" Because of these needs, Blizzard has significantly made visual changes, such as "[shrinking] the portrait, mini map, top-level menu buttons, and ability icons to a comfortable size."