Diablo Immortal delayed in gaming's biggest market

Diablo Immortal has been delayed in China and will no longer meet its original June 23 launch on iOS and Android in gaming's most lucrative region.

Blizzard's and NetEase's controversial free-to-play Diablo game has been pushed back to an undetermined period of time in China. Originally due to launch in June 23, the game has been delayed to "optimize" the experience. NetEase promises to give Chinese players a special "exclusive thank you package" that includes legendary equipment, materials, and "rich props".

It's also worth noting that Diablo Immortal discussions were banned on China's Weibo social media platform for a "violation of related laws and regulations."

"We are sorry to inform you that the launch of Diablo: Immortal, originally scheduled for June 23rd, will be delayed," NetEase said in the announcement.

"The development team is making a number of optimization adjustments to the game: support for a wider range of models and devices, the highest quality rendering on more models, a lot of experience, network and performance optimizations, and more. We believe that the game experience in the official online version will become smoother and bring better game content to everyone."

Diablo Immortal has made an estimated $20 million+ in microtransaction revenues so far, but this doesn't include the Chinese market. The game should see a hefty surge in spending once it's released in this lucrative region.