A sign of the Diablo times...

... from DiabloFans.com:

It is with great sadness that I must announce the closure of DiabloFans. Our site has been a pillar of the Diablo community for many years, but due to the fading interest in current Diablo products and business realities for Curse, it is time for DiabloFans to say farewell.

You've read that correctly. The best-known and longest-running Diablo fan site, and one the few which was able to run an actual business, fuelled by nothing more than the love of Diablo fans for the franchise, is shutting down due to a lack of interest in Diablo. Whatever Blizzard do next with the franchise, they will do it without the support of this long-running portal, and the dedicated and passionate fans who made it happen.

And Diablofans aren't the only ones finding it hard to justify continued support of Activision Blizzard's Diablo franchise.

Take this post on BlizzPro.com:

“Every Voice Matters” – one of the eight core values of Blizzard Entertainment, just got a lot quieter.

I’m not ready to “close” the BlizzPro shop yet. The news this week that Activision-Blizzard had a record financial year, and then proceeded to cut 800 “non development” employees which mostly included community and esports. Our hearts were crushed by the news. It has also made us wonder if this is something we want to continue pouring our free time into.

BlizzPro was never created to make money. We’ve always been in this for the community. We brought in people who were passionate community members who loved sharing our experiences with other community members. [...] Yesterday Activision-Blizzard has decided that community is no longer a priority for them. Their commitment to community is now gone.

This year is my 20th anniversary of writing for a fansite. It’s my 15th anniversary of solely writing for a Blizzard fansite. It’s my 6th anniversary of owning a fansite. There are always ups and downs throughout the year, and every single person on our team can tell you about this. [...] Summer normally hits, things slow down. Burn out begins. This is where we sometimes lose a member or two. But we never worry, because more will come join us a couple months before BlizzCon hits when the buzz starts happening again.

BlizzCon 2018, there was no adrenaline. The writing was already on the wall leading up to that, but it became much clearer.

I feel like Diablo fans are on Diablo death watch right now, with little reason to hope, nothing to be excited about, and the creeping feeling that Blizzard may actually have done what decades of Diablo players never could do: kill Diablo permanently.

GG, Blizzard. GG.