This particular survey, launched today, has quickly found itself circulating on Social Media, where players promptly pointed out the lack of Diablo-related questions – instead noting that the survey inquired about their video streaming habits, shopping behaviors, and other social activities. The survey additionally asks players deeply personal questions such as what charities they support, household income, and marital status.
With a survey that blatantly invades users’ privacy, asks questions unrelated to the game experience, and harvests user data, it almost sounds too nefarious to be coming from Blizzard. And yet, players see it the moment they log in to Diablo 4, and it is proudly presented above the “Start Game” button in the main menu, advertising itself as a way to “directly influence Diablo 4’s development process”.
The community has pointed out that Blizzard itself is not conducting the survey; instead, it was labeled as a YouGov Survey. YouGov is a US-based marketing and data analytics firm that assists businesses with all aspects of market research and demographic targeting, including surveys such as the one conducted with the Diablo 4 community. They are primarly a company that provides data and analytics about user data, not preferences.
What players expected to be a feedback survey ended up being what is often referred to as a “Privacy Trap”, a misleading or manipulative tactic that makes users share private data under the guise of something they would sincerely care about, such as “directly influencing Diablo IV’s development process”. With a survey that mostly asks about demographic and behavioral patterns, rather than feedback on the game, Reddit user Secret_Falcon_249 and others were furious immediately.
However, Secret_Falcon_249 is not alone; Digital_Pirate85 took the survey hours before and encountered the same confusing questions. In the Reddit Post they wrote, they wrote about the questions in the survey, noting:
None of mine were even about gaming or entertainment
Others in the comments echoed the sentiment, with Meth0dd providing a question from the survey asking them about charitable causes they would be interested in supporting. The comments across these posts continue to question why Blizzard would release such a feedback survey, poking at what the real intention is for such an invasion of privacy.
All of this leaves a sour taste in the community’s mouth, which has been asking for more updates regarding the game, providing feedback from the PTR updates, and giving loud, vocal concerns about build diversity and gameplay moving forward into Season 11. At the end of the day, whether it was their intention or not, players can only conclude by their actions that Blizzard appears to be more interested in collecting players’ data than in listening to players’ voices.
About The Author
