Blizzard CEO acknowledge flaws in Diablo III

Written by

Matthew Handrahan for Gamesindustry.biz:

In a letter released to the Battle.net forums, [Blizzard CEO Mike] Morhaime describes the difficulties in attempting to predict the demand for a game ahead of its launch, and concedes that its preparation for Diablo III, “just wasn’t enough.” He also mentions numerous problems still plaguing the experience for some players, such as latency.

Diablo III has been a rare misstep for a game publisher with the Midas touch: It seems that the company was incapable of making a game that its audience didn’t absolutely adore.

Problems have abounded with Diablo III since launch – from the activation woes that Morhaime mentioned to its need to stay constantly connected to Blizzard’s online servers (party for copy protection and also to cut down on cheating). The game’s auction house is another sore spot with some game players, since it allows players with real-world currency to buy rare in-game items that they’d otherwise have to find on their own.

Diablo III is available for OS X and Windows.



  • Ubbrewing

    I’ve been lucky, I guess — I had my first real problem with maintaining connection to the servers last night; I lost a substantial amount of progress when the connection went down, and I couldn’t reconnect after several attempts. Finally gave up. Very frustrating, but really just an inconvenience. That said, if it was the kind of thing that happened to me “often”, I would be livid… and feel a bit ripped off (paying for a game I frequently can’t play).

  • Gonji

    “The game’s auction house is another sore spot with some game players, since it allows players with real-world currency to buy rare in-game items that they’d otherwise have to find on their own.”

    This is one of my gripes about the whole “in App” purchasing system. It allow those who are willing, or stupid enough, to get an advantage over those who are, or need to be, more careful with there spending. You should never have to pay twice.

    • Watcher

      I believe the sales are only between the players, not directly from the developer, which mitigates the issue.

      • Gonji

        Yes and no. It still means those who haven’t got the money to participate in the auctions are at a disadvantage.