Diablo Netflix adaptation was killed by Activision in corporate lawsuit

Things are looking up for Diablo fans with the upcoming Vessel of Hatred expansion showing plenty of potential. Unfortunately, it was recently revealed that Activision Blizzard has scrapped a potential Netflix series, making fans wonder what could have been.

Players were already annoyed with some of the game’s advertising, with a recent trailer seemingly spoiling the Diablo 4 expansion’s final boss. Someone in Activision Blizzard also accidentally posted the game’s launch trailer early, which was the butt of a joke to many. While none of this hurts the actual quality of the game, all of this could have been handled better.

Now that Diablo fans know they lost a potentially great Netflix series to Activision Blizzard, they’re pretty disappointed in the company. While lawsuits are in a weird grey area that makes them hard to discuss, Netflix’s expertise in video game adaptations makes this decision hurt a lot.

Activision Netflix lawsuit kills Diablo series

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier was taking part in a Q&A on Reddit, where he revealed that there were plans to adapt Diablo into a series. Schreier shared an old Variety story of Activision suing Netflix for poaching their then-CFO Spencer Neumann, who was required to work three years for the company.

This lawsuit resulted in the cancellation of a Diablo TV show. Based on the Blizzard ARPG games, the TV show may have followed the same vein as the amazing Castlevania adaptations.

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It wasn’t just Diablo affected since Schreier mentions potential shows for Overwatch and Starcraft getting scrapped. Considering how Overwatch gained a huge fanbase through animated shorts alone, this is particularly painful for video game fans.

What could have been…

Netflix has shown how good their video game adaptations are, so fans can only imagine what a Diablo show would have been like. If Arcane and Castlevania are anything to go by, this was a huge missed opportunity and fans might not be able to recover from it anytime soon.

There’s a lot of lore and character in Diablo that a Netflix series really could have delved into. Just watching that first teaser for Vessel of Hatred shows that this franchise has a lot of material to adapt. With four games to base a show on, this does feel like a massive loss.

At the least, fans still have Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred to look forward to. Curious players thinking of getting the expansion can check out the game’s release time and pre-order details. If you’re a rogue player, check out our guide on how to get the most out of this character class.