Update: Blizzard has denied the story and Jason Schrier who reported the original has said there may be some confusion on timing on when the video about Diablo 4 was going to run. You can read more about it here.

Original Story continues below

Last weekend, a mobile Diablo game riled up the fandom, but now reports are giving some explanation to just what Blizzard was thinking. According to a report by Kotaku's Jason Schrier, sources familiar with Blizzard's plan for BlizzCon claim that Diablo 4 was going to be teased. The plans were scrapped just weeks before the convention.

The initial plan was to announce Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon and put a teaser for Diablo 4 afterward. The video would feature Blizzard co-founder Allen Adham, who would tell the audience that a true sequel to Diablo 3 was in development, but it isn't ready to show. This plan was scrapped in the past few weeks, leading to a lackluster announcement of a mobile game based on a franchise known best on PC.

This revelation comes after a series of events at Blizzard over the past three months that helped create the storm that exploded. In August, Blizzard published a video titled "The Future of Diablo" on YouTube. In it, associate community manager Brandy Camel said that there are multiple Diablo projects are in the works, and then there might be exciting announcements later in the year.

Cut to October, when a slew of events happened to throw the future of Diablo into question. Former Blizzard president Mike Morhaime announced he was stepping down from his post as of the end of 2018 on Oct. 3. By the middle of the month, the Diablo comics were canceled, and the Book of Adria was delayed.

Before the end of October, we see Blizzard tampering expectations for Diablo and BlizzCon this year, although Kotaku reports at this time the plan was still to have an announcement of Diablo 4, which would later change. Additionally, many job postings for upper management positions would open up at Blizzard's "Unannounced Diablo Project," suggesting some internal turmoil. This lines up with Kotaku's report, where one of the sources close to the developer claimed that "Diablo 4 has changed drastically over the past four years."

It's been six years since the last mainline Diablo game. Blizzard continues to say that multiple projects are in the works, and the company keeps hinting that one of them is the game everyone wants. Maybe at BlizzCon 2019, we might see a title card for Diablo 4. Or maybe we'll get a Diablo-inspired puzzle game for mobile.

After the uproar about Diablo Immortal, how do you feel about this newest development? Does this shake your faith in Blizzard? Or is this just a bump in the road to a new flagship Diablo title? Let us know in the comments below.