Can I play Diablo Immortal on PC? Yes!

We’ve been expecting the mobile title Diablo Immortal to be just that — mobile — but after much public outcry and a whole lot of tinkering, Blizzard has decided to release it officially for both PC and mobile platforms. Despite the meme-able hard line Blizzard initially took with the title, Diablo Immortal is making its appearance on the Battle.net launcher, and it will simultaneously debut in wide release for mobile and the PC open beta on June 2. So what’s the difference between an open beta and a wide release? Server stability and tempered expectations, mostly.

Altering a game from mobile to make a satisfying PC gaming port doesn’t come without a few hiccups — like scaling the UI from readable on a phone, which makes sense on those devices, but would consume most of the screen on PC. Since touch-based screen gaming relies on having two independent inputs that can tap different things simultaneously, they also had to add options for hotkeyed abilities on PC. It’ll be interesting to see how this changes the experience, especially since many characters have aimed abilities.

A big benefit to mobile gaming is the ability to play your game anywhere (or more specifically anywhere there’s stable WiFi). If you do choose to spend most of your time with the PC version, you won’t lose this ability, either — Diablo Immortal will feature both cross-play and cross-progression. Feel free to battle the minions of hell on a long car trip or while you’re waiting at the doctor’s office, using and progressing the same character from your PC game. You can also play with your friends who may be on any — or all — of those platforms.

Another really great feature of this PC version is the ability to use a controller. Controllers don’t just mean another way to move your character through the world, but controller support also brings with it a slew of new options for accessibility — always a good thing. Even if you don’t use a controller, the Diablo Immortal team has added additional PC controls, so you can use WASD for movement out of the box for the first time in the franchise. Personally, as I got older I tended to make my Diablo 3 sessions on the shorter side specifically because the constant clicky movement meant my forearm would start aching after a half hour or so of gaming, so I’m pretty excited for this feature.

The open beta for Diablo Immortal for PC will release at the same time as the mobile version officially launches, June 2, clawing its way out of hell in time to make a few summer vacations a little more evil.

Originally published 9/19/2019, updated 4/25/2022