Baal Is Back In New 'Diablo Immortal' Trailer

Baal makes its dramatic return in a new gameplay trailer of “Diablo Immortal,” the highly-criticized mobile spin-off of the iconic dungeon crawler.

The new video was revealed at the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, or ChinaJoy. It is China's biggest digital entertainment gathering and is annually held in Shanghai.

The nearly-three minute video featured Baal in the first fifteen seconds leading to the transition of the game's characters. Old school gamers will remember Baal as the main boss of “Diablo II,” the hit hack-and-slash action RPG developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2000.

But while the video is in full Chinese, BlizzPlanet, who made a detailed breakdown of the trailer, said that it was specially made for the Chinese market. The video showed the lack of blood and gore usually present in previous and current “Diablo” games; skeletons summoned by the Necromancer also had flesh and skin, making them look like famished warriors.

BlizzPlanet said it's the fault of Blizzard or partner NetEase. Instead, the trailer “simply adjusted” to the country's “law and censorship” that put restrictions on some of the game's visuals. Blizzard will eventually release a Western version of the video complete with blood and gore, bones and skeleton minions, it added.

The video also showed gameplay snippets of the game's six playable characters: Monk, Necromancer, Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter and Wizard. At one point, a female Crusader can be seen preparing to take on Baal. Blizzard has yet to announce if the Witch Doctor, a new inclusion in “Diablo III,” will be included in the roster of the game's mobile counterpart, said Polygon.

“Diablo Immortal” didn't really appeal to fans when Blizzard announced the game in 2018. Activision Blizzard, however, sees a glimmer hope in their mobile gaming pursuit with CFO Dennis Durkin citing the success of “Call of Duty: Mobile” as their standard-bearer in the way they are “planning on rethinking their mobile strategies.”

“There's a lot more to come in mobile too. CoD Mobile is off to a really great start, but we're just scratching the surface of what the franchise can be on mobile and then integrating the experiences across multiple platforms, we know is just an incredible opportunity for the franchise,” Durkin said in a Q&A session during its quarterly financial call, PC Gamer reported.

Activision Blizzard has yet to officially made a statement on the official release of “Diablo Immortal,” but it said that it plans on testing the game sometime this summer, said Hypebeast.