Welcome to the hellscape of Spawn x Diablo Immortal. Want to stay a while? 😈 

We're over the moon to share that we created the 2.5D animated cinematic to launch the major crossover event between Todd McFarlane's iconic Spawn, and Blizzard's Diablo Immortal. Bringing one world to life in a cinematic is always amazing, but having the chance to bring two to life in a merger of worlds is next level- especially when those two worlds are as iconic as these! 

This cinematic had to set up the tone, scale, and fantasy of the Diablo Immortal x Spawn crossover. Our team tackled the challenge head on, and we're incredibly proud of the way it turned out.

We were particularly honoured to get the opportunity to carve out the visual identity of this crossover, figuring out how to let Spawn's hellspawn fantasy comic book DNA drive the visuals, whilst staying true to the horror-fueled voice of Diablo Immortal.

Ultimately, we had to redefine what it means to wield the forces of hell. No big deal, or anything.

Creating a New Style

After much experimentation, the Diablo x Spawn aesthetic was born from the darkness: writhing chains, corruption, dramatic contrast, bold lines, and exaggerated shapes, all splattered with the glowing greens of Necroplasmic power. The end result looks devilishly good, if we do say so ourselves. 🔥

Spot the Details!

After this initial phase of visual development, we then went on to handle everything from sketches through to animation and final render in-house at Mooncolony.

A total of 9 illustrations, 10 shots, 4 characters, and a ferocious horde of demons were all rendered in an art style that will capture the imaginations of a whole new audience of Diablo Immortal players.

All the while, it gives dedicated fans something delightfully evil to relish in as a thank you for their ongoing commitment to the game!

For example, eagle eyed players will recognise subtle details such as the 9:9:9:9 motif: a recurring Spawn visual linked to the Hell Timer. We included this easter egg throughout the cinematic via environmental and FX elements such as corrupted markings to reinforce Hellspawn presence and Malebolgia's influence ❾❾❾❾ 

Director: Denis Bouyer

Lead Art Director: Arthur Bozonnet

Art Director: Gerald Parel

Senior Producer: Amy Paterson

Production Manager: Pauline Coogans

Producer: Rosealee Higgins

Lead Artist: Tulio Brito

Artists: Giovani Hirochi, Renato Roldan, Alex Alexandrov, Dmitry Khrapovitsky, Narendra Adi, Marina Krivenko, Enzo Fernandez, Eric Guerrero, Vladislav Tashkinov, Jan Drenovec, Nikolay Andreychenko

Lead Animator: Alan MacEachern

2D FX Artists: Slava Spirianin, Thomas Poole

3D Animator: Renato Roldan

Animators: Mathieu Lafay, Sylvain Couillet

Compositors: Gordon Howie, Greg Platt, Loic Bramoullé