On The Ethics of Diablo
I enjoyed the Diablo IV beta. I played a sorcerer because I am a simple man and flashy, colourful explosions stimulate my ape brain like playing Brain Age on the Nintendo DS while high on amphetamines. However, its hard to ignore that developer & publisher Blizzard Entertainment (a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard) is, at minimum, a problematic company, and at worst, a fervent hive of discrimination and sexual harassment (and lets not forget about Diablo Immortal’s predatory microtransactions).
The gaming industry in general doesn’t have a particularly glowing track record when it comes to ethics. You can say art and artist (blah blah blah), but surely there needs to be some accountability. If not for the toxic work culture, then at least for the rapid decline in quality of their games (I’m looking at you, Warcraft III: Reforged). It’s a travesty that a company that was once universally revered for its quality and innovation has been on an Ezra Miller-style reputation-destroying bender over the past few years.
God damnit did I have a blast with the beta though, and I know I’m still going to end up buying this f#@$ing game. 🙃