The Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 release dates have slipped beyond 2021, according to Activision Blizzard in its earnings call for the latest quarter. The game publisher had an otherwise strong quarterly report, dominated by Call of Duty.
The eagerly-anticipated Overwatch and Diablo sequels were formally announced at Blizzcon 2019 as follow-ups to games that had been released years earlier: the original Overwatch came out in 2016, while Diablo 3 first launched on PC in 2012.
Fans hoped both sequels were slated to come out in 2021, especially those who were still sore over the reveal of the mobile-only free-to-play Diablo Immortal in November 2018, which came before any news of Diablo 4.
To be fair, Blizzard hadn’t given proper release dates to either Diablo 4 or Overwatch 2, and didn’t reveal in the earnings call when they expect to release either game. The company did note that Overwatch 2 passed a major milestone in December, according to a tweet by games industry analyst @DomsPlaying, but that’s no indication of how far it is along.
According to Niko Partners industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, though, Overwatch 2 could release in 2022:
Activision says Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 will not launch this year. Sounds like Overwatch 2 will come in 2022.February 4, 2021
While there weren’t any hints about a Diablo 4 release in the earnings call, we are still expecting Diablo Immortal to launch sometime this year – and the call did note that a new Call of Duty game is slated to come out in late 2021, Ahmad noted in another tweet.
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Blizzcon 2021: what's coming?
The news wasn't all bad: during the quarterly earnings call, Activision Blizzard did mention that 2022 will have big launches like a new premium Call of Duty game, but will also include new remastered content the megastudio plans to unveil later this year, which Ahmad tweeted could be a Diablo 2 remaster.
This news could be revealed at the online-only Blizzcon 2021, which is being held on February 19-20 – a sort of belated announcement event after Blizzcon 2020, slated for last November, was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. We know we'll hear more about Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 at the event, including a chunky update on the latter.
We'll have to wait to see whether the show's announcements will clarify either game's release date.
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