Diablo, are you okay?

As much as we like to cover the very (many) serious topics surrounding Blizzard’s Diablo 4, this story is not actually about the game, or even the Diablo series. Instead, it’s specifically about the official Diablo YouTube channel.

If you play and follow Blizzard’s action-RPG series, you’ll have likely seen a few of the channel’s videos in your recommendation feed on YouTube. For the most part, the YT channel offers some nice insight into the development of the game, the usual run of trailers, as well as the occasional dive into lore and story.

Recently, though, Diablo’s YouTube channel has been posting these musical marathons, either featuring the Diablo 4 soundtrack (appropriately titled Emanations of Sanctuary), or remixes of/new takes on the music, like this one of “Lofi Beats to Study to” – clearly a play on the growing subgenre of music on YouTube. All of that is fine, of course.

Over the last 24 hours, however, things took a bit of a turn. The channel’s latest livestream is dubbed International Dance Day Rave, and it’s one you’re likely to never associate with the dark, brutal, and grim world of Diablo.

As the title suggests, this is, indeed, a rave. It’s more than a mere compilation of dance remixes of Diablo music, however: it’s a full-on show featuring the stoic Angel Inarius… performing dance moves to the music. The animations look like they’re out of Fortnite, and the video is edited in a way that reminds me of those dance complications… also from Fortnite.

Now, I am not here to ruin anyone’s fun, but this whole thing comes across as a little bizarre. Diablo’s brand doesn’t immediately spring to mind when you think dance and body expression now, does it? And the music, mournful and sombre as it is, doesn’t lend itself to that type of remix.

This actually could’ve worked, had the styling of the video been a little more in-tune with the themes of Diablo. Some sort of bard-y love in set in a tavern, or something, you know? Again, I’m not looking to rain on anyone’s low-budget attempt to latch onto a barely-recognised holiday, it just seems a little incongruous with Diablo’s whole thing.

On a more serious note, Diablo 4 players have a date this Thursday with Blizzard, when the developer will be hosting a new update livestream to discuss feedback from the well-received recent PTR, and talk more about next month’s Season 4.