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Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 won't see 2021 release dates, says Activision Blizzard

In today's earnings call, the company warned investors not to expect a release this year from its tentpole franchises.

February 4, 2021 2:52 PM

If you happened to be one of the folks watching the official Diablo 4 reveal at Blizzcon 2019 and assumed that the release would be a long way off, you guessed correctly. In today’s earning call to investors, Activision Blizzard warned investors not to expect a 2021 release date for Diablo 4 or Overwatch 2.

During earnings call, Activision Blizzard said it does not expect Overwatch 2 or Diablo 4 to launch in 2021. pic.twitter.com/C2BmDP53JA
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 4, 2021

While the company was touting its recent earnings from Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, it also let slip release date news that is sure to disappoint fans who had hopes of seeing Activision Blizzard’s other tentpole franchises this year. The Diablo franchise had recently had some positive news recently when it was announced that the mobile-exclusive Diablo Immortal was entering a technical alpha in December.

While the Diablo series is no stranger to delays and extended periods between releases, today’s news is a bit surprising for Overwatch 2. Based on what had been shown at Blizzcon 2019 and the advertised scope of the project, it would have been reasonable to assume that the game could launch by the end of 2021. Development on the first Overwatch has already been slowed for more than a year now and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly took its toll on the competitive Overwatch scene.

The full Activision Blizzard earning report was released early this afternoon and includes some other fun nuggets such as player engagement with Candy Crush.

Chris Jarrard

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.

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Shacknews

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February 4, 2021 2:52 PM

Chris Jarrard posted a new article, Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 won't see 2021 release dates, says Activision Blizzard
- atom519
  
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  February 4, 2021 2:56 PM
  
  Hopefully they can use this time to add more shields into Overwatch 2. Peak gameplay is shooting multiple layered shields as a DPS.
  - erebus
    
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    February 4, 2021 9:46 PM
    
    Funny... I like being reinhardt and being silver and gold in damage.
  - code-e255
    
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    February 4, 2021 10:20 PM
    
    Yeah man, I quit playing because it became so frustrating as Soldier 76. :(
    
    I hard they balanced things out a bit in favor of DPS like a year or two ago, but I never bothered checking it out again.
    - Zek
      
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      February 5, 2021 5:33 AM
      
      Soldier got a huge buff (fully accurate auto-fire with recoil, and rockets). They also nerfed shields across the board some time ago. I think the game is the best it's ever been.
      - Zek
        
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        February 5, 2021 5:33 AM
        
        and more frequent rockets* that is.
  - AlphaMaj
    
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    February 5, 2021 4:09 AM
    
    I would have said add 10 more characters that have a boop, stun, or sleep of some kind and make all boops have 10x the knockback. It's super fun!
    - mr.thing
      
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      February 5, 2021 9:30 AM
      
      The characters are all so fast you need a way to get them out of position. It’s sucks when it happens to you but it opens up so many fun gameplay possibilities
  - mr.thing
    
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    February 5, 2021 9:28 AM
    
    It’s so much fun being a tank with almost triple the amount of health and lasting shorter than a dps player
  - mr.thing
    
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    February 5, 2021 9:34 AM
    
    Overwatch is all about the tanks and healers. If they expand that pool of players that is when the game will get allot more fun
- yAak
  
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  February 4, 2021 11:45 PM
  
  The real question is: will Diablo 4 see a 2022 release date??!!
  - baron calamity
    
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    February 5, 2021 6:34 AM
    
    Yeah. Its like it was restarted recently so 23 might be realistic.
- cruncht1me
  
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  February 5, 2021 4:10 AM
  
  Over watch 2 is more of a expansion with single player right?
  - senor135
    
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    February 5, 2021 4:45 AM
    
    yea, like stand-alone expansion
  - Zek
    
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    February 5, 2021 5:31 AM
    
    Basically yes, but they're still trying to maintain the illusion that it's a sequel.
    - cruncht1me
      
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      February 5, 2021 6:11 AM
      
      Yeah I have no interest in it at all. Unless it turns out to be a ridiculous 'sequel' I will just wait til its $20 or whatever.
  - m0rfus
    
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    February 5, 2021 7:38 AM
    
    it's all PvE and less team vs team.
  - mr.thing
    
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    February 5, 2021 9:37 AM
    
    I think it’s going to be more everything.
    
    Heroes
    Multiplayer maps
    Game modes
    Single player
    And more...?