Short answers, pulled from the story.
Diablo Immortal launched on Android and iOS on the 2nd of June 2022 for most regions outside Asia-Pacific, with a simultaneous open beta for Windows. Most Asia-Pacific markets received the game on the 8th of July 2022, and China launched on the 25th of July 2022.
Diablo fans attending BlizzCon in November 2018 had anticipated a PC sequel and reacted negatively when a mobile game was announced instead. Director Wyatt Cheng's rhetorical response of "Do you guys not have phones?" became a widely circulated meme, and Activision Blizzard's stock fell 7% on the first weekday of trading after the event.
Calculations reported by publications following launch, based on work by YouTuber Bellular News, estimated approximately one hundred thousand dollars in real-world spending, or about ten years of free play. Later player estimates on Twitter and Reddit revised this figure to between three hundred thousand and six hundred thousand dollars, once top-level legendary gem slot interactions were factored in.
Diablo Immortal was co-developed by Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase. The game was built on a new platform called the Messiah Engine, not previously used for any NetEase title. Director Wyatt Cheng and senior combat designer Julian Love both worked on Diablo III before joining the Immortal project.
Diablo Immortal surpassed ten million downloads within its first week of release, making it the biggest launch in the Diablo franchise's history. It reached over twenty million global installs by the 24th of July 2022, and over thirty million downloads by the 29th of July 2022.
The Asia-Pacific launch, originally set for the 23rd of June 2022, was delayed after the game's official Weibo account was banned on June 15 for allegedly posting content referencing Winnie the Pooh, a symbol used to criticize Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Blizzard and NetEase cited the need for additional optimization adjustments, and most Asia-Pacific markets received the game on the 8th of July 2022.