Activision Blizzard stock tumbles following Diablo Immortal backlash Share price takes 6.74% hit to close out day at lowest point since January

Haydn Taylor Senior Staff Writer Tuesday 6th November 2018 Share this article Share

Companies in this article Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard shares have tumbled amid fan backlash toward the announcement of Diablo Immortal.

Taking centre stage at BlizzCon over the weekend, Blizzard's announcement of the mobile-only game failed to provoke any excitement from fans, who took to social media with the hashtag #NotMyDiablo.

In true gamer outrage style, there is even a petition on Change.org with over 33,000 signatures demanding the Diablo Immortal be cancelled.

The reveal trailer has been viewed nearly 3.3 million times on YouTube, and has over 443,000 dislikes compared to just 17,000 likes.

Following the announcement and subsequent fallout, Activision Blizzard stock fell to its lowest point since January, closing out the day down 6.74%.

With mobile continuing to dominate the rest of the industry in terms of revenue, the reveal of Diablo Immortals should have prompted a very different response on the stock market.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Diablo Immortal could generate up to $300 million annual revenue, and extend the franchise's reach considerably.

However, in a note to investors, research firm Cowen & Company (via Gamespot) said that Blizzard "severely miscalculated" the fan response, suggesting the company isn't as "in touch with [its] players maybe [it] should be".

This decline comes just weeks after the company took a 9% to its share price with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which generated $500 million worldwide sales over launch weekend, falling $50 million shy of its predecessor.