In a truce that will rank in significance alongside Westphalia, Versailles, and Paris, Diablo 4 maker Blizzard Entertainment and Whoopi Goldberg (from Sister Act) have publicly buried the hatchet. At a Whoopi Goldberg-themed cannabis event with Diablo’s general manager and Lilith herself in attendance, no less (via Entertainment Weekly).
If you don’t remember, Goldberg got upset at Blizzard around the time of Diablo 4’s release last year, railing against the company in a now-deleted Instagram post for failing to port the game to her preferred system: the Mac.
To tell the truth, Goldberg turned the other cheek not long after. She got a refund for the game and—though still rankled about not being able to play Diablo, of which she’s a genuine fan—moved on. But now Blizzard has gone a step further: Lilith and Inarius (cosplayers) turned up at last Saturday’s A Night With Whoopi event—held to promote the actor’s range of medical cannabis products—to present her with the “key to hell.” Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson, who found himself blindsided by Whoopi’s Apple-user anger last year, was also there to mend fences with the actor.
The pictures of the event are really quite something. Seeing 68-year-old Goldberg flanked by the Mother of Demons and Creator of Sanctuary, absolutely beaming, is a thing I am struggling to process with my small, mortal mind. Naturally, it’s all a daft publicity stunt, but you also can’t deny that Goldberg is a genuine Diablo die-hard. Not just because she took to social media to vent her frustrations about Diablo 4 last year, but because look at this photo of her in full gamer-stance as she plays the game at the event. This is a woman who has transmorphed a Wound Imp or two in her time.
Regardless, I don’t think the key to hell actually has any in-game effect, which is probably for the best. After all, Diablo 4 still isn’t out on Whoopi’s Mac, so it’s not like she’d have been able to put the thing to use.
The timing on this is almost certainly no coincidence. Diablo 4 had its first birthday last month, and its first big expansion—Vessel of Hatred—is due out this October. PCG’s own Diablo follower Tyler Colp even says the game is in a pretty great spot these days, calling it “the phenomenal action RPG I want it to be”. I’m sure Blizzard would love people who have checked out of the game to give it another try, and hey, why not start with Whoopi?
