Here I am again, investigating rumors of upcoming shows surrounding incredibly popular game series. I originally did this with my God of War Netflix truth article, which is still quite popular and maintains to be accurate today. Seeing how the good people reading these articles would prefer some honesty, let’s break down the grit of these rumors.
I have been looking into the multiple reports being spread and they all have one similar aspect in mind; their source of the Diablo and Overwatch Netflix series comes from a LinkedIn Profile for the co-president of Activision Blizzard, Nick van Dyk. Here’s the problem, they all link to the same deleted account on LinkedIn. Now, why would that be? I considered the thought that maybe he was ambushed with questions about the series, but LinkedIn is a professional based site and not basic social media, meaning it works differently, so that can’t be it.
What I believe has happened is that someone made an account for Nick van Dyk and spread the news about these two shows. It would be believable because it is a business-based website and his IMDb profile shows that he was the producer of both Skylanders Academy and the currently-delayed Call of Duty movie. But why would they spread rumors?
Diablo would be a good pick because they have both the mobile-based game Diablo Immortal, as well as, the multi-platform game Diablo IV coming out soon. Overwatch would be a good pick because they have both Overwatch in eSports and Overwatch 2 coming out soon.
Here’s my final piece of evidence as to why I don’t believe either of these titles are currently in the works of getting their own Netflix series. While Activision is part of Blizzard, they are not one big company. You can literally go on the Blizzard's website right now, lower the games menu list and see that Blizzard games and Activision games are separated, so why would the Activision Blizzard co-president be the one to spread the news on something that is strictly Blizzard news? On top of this, why isn’t Blizzard talking about it at all?
I’m sorry to say that until we see more fact-based news on these Netflix specials, we need to stop believing they are in the works. Proof over rumor will always be my preferred premise. If this bums you out as much as it does me since I’m a fan of Diablo since the first game, then at least take solace in the few upcoming shows and movies that are true. We have the Call of Duty movie, Season 3 for Castlevania, plus a new Silent Hill and Fatal Frame movie. But as it stands, there is no Diablo or Overwatch series in the works; at least not according to anything I can find.
Article Sources: Forbes and Gamespot
Bonus Proof: While I was looking up the images to use for this article, I came across a 2018 article from Bloody Disgusting talking about their proof that the Diablo series was in the works. They used a tweet from the Hellboy writer Andrew Cosby stating he was in “the final works” to start writing. That tweet doesn’t even exist anymore, this is from over a year ago, and his Twitter doesn’t mention a single thing about Diablo now.
