A recently released video featuring the developers of Diablo 4 playing their own game has stirred up significant controversy within the community. Fans of the game are expressing disbelief and frustration at the skill level showcased by the developers during the gameplay session.
The developers of Diablo 4 had been making efforts to engage more with the community, demonstrating their responsiveness to feedback—an approach that had previously earned them goodwill. Their developer chats had been positively received, and despite concerns about the state of Diablo 4 Season 1, the transparency displayed by the developers had given players hope that these issues would be addressed.
However, the tide has turned due to a recent video that showcased some of the developers playing Diablo 4. Players are now criticizing the developers for their apparent lack of skill in the game.
Creating a video game involves a wide array of roles, with team members specializing in areas such as art direction, narrative writing, UI design, and sound design. Not all of these roles necessitate the developers themselves being skilled gamers or even regular players of video games.
Nonetheless, footage of two designers responsible for Diablo 4's dungeon content has led players to question the skill level of the developers behind the game's encounters. This has triggered a strong reaction from both the community and regular Diablo players, who are bewildered by the gameplay displayed in the video.
The video's dislike-to-like ratio on YouTube, though somewhat obscured by recent changes, currently sits at over 20,000 dislikes compared to around 600 likes. While this figure may not be entirely precise, it clearly indicates the significant backlash the video has faced from the community.
Diablo 4 subreddit members members have been vocal in their criticism:
One commenter expressed, "We've all spent years wondering 'What is wrong with Blizzard,' and now we understand everything. Incredible."
Another commenter criticized the developers' understanding of basic game mechanics, noting, "Devs spamming basic ability with a full resource bar then dying on WT1 at level 50 in a normal dungeon… yep. It all makes sense now."
A Reddit post discussing the video has gained traction, with players questioning why the video was released in the first place:
"Lmao they seriously recorded then edited this and still thought it was a good idea to post this," remarked one Redditor.
Another Redditor suggested that these developers were set up for failure, noting, "Honestly not everyone plays video games. Not everyone should be good at it. Even developers shouldn't be required to be good at games. But for the love of God, if you are doing a live stream, you definitely should put someone on who has at least played solitaire. This is just atrocious. This implicates the PR department who organized all this on top of the development team."
As of now, Blizzard has yet to officially comment on the community's backlash against the video. Community influencer Asmongold has shared his perspective, expressing sympathy for the developers while criticizing Blizzard for releasing the video.
