Demonstrating trademark restraint, No Rest for the Wicked lead Thomas Mahler of Ori maker Moon Studios has been tearing into Diablo, Blizzard, former company president Mike Ybarra, and top action RPGs like Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2 in a social media rant that's ultimately dragged Ybarra in for a classic round of Twitter fisticuffs.
This began on December 30, 2025 when Mahler promoted his own action RPG. In a plea to streamers, he wrote, "We all know anyone can look good in Diablo 4 or PoE2. Do you really want to show your audience you've got skill? Try No Rest for the Wicked."
Ybarra responded that day, arguing that "Putting down other games for your own games sake doesn't really work. Let your game stand on its own two feet."
Another user expressed hopes that the devs at Moon would use "their energy on finishing the game [rather] than targeting other games." Mahler insisted he was "just teasing a little."
Another reply reckoned you also get the "worst performance" from No Rest for the Wicked. "Real men got good machines at home," Mahler responded, adding, "Either that or you play those PBR'd cheap mocap games that look like they were made by students." (I believe he's talking about physically based rendering here.)
On December 31, Mahler readied the salvo. "Mike, real talk: You were put in charge of Diablo and you didn't treat it with the respect it deserved," he said in the first of many lengthy new posts and replies.
"Diablo used to mean something. Diablo 2 was an utter masterpiece and showed the whole world what western developers could do," he continued. "You OK'd turning Diablo into a MTX slot machine where people can buy horse armor for 65$."
The horse armor in question was part of a $65 currency bundle that Blizzard rolled out earlier this year. The horse cosmetic itself was technically free with purchase, but the whole bundle was blatant microtransaction price anchoring, and it was rightly pilloried by the game's community. This isn't the first time Mahler has blasted it, either.
"It's time that executives stop patting themselves on the back after ruining beloved franchises and accept some personal responsibility," Mahler added in his post, tipping his hat to a quote from Ybarra, who said earlier this year that "I'm not sure where Diablo is going".
"Games used to be better before all this crap happened and that's just sad," Mahler reiterated in a reply.
"This Toxic Positivity stuff is for the birds," he added, just in case you weren't sure of his stance. "If you make a bad game, you should feel bad about it and there shouldn't be a bunch of people that congratulate you for an awful job well done."
Ybarra, you'll be shocked to hear, could not resist the reply button. "You can critique other games all you want," he said. "But running around putting down Diablo and Path of Exile begging people to play your game is stupid. And that is my point. You know it's stupid as well. I get your desperate at this point, but I'd focus on your game and not D4 and Path."
Like Willem Dafoe succumbing to the siren-like calls of the Green Goblin mask in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, Mahler responded, affirming his "respect" for Path of Exile 2 developer Grinding Gear Games and arguing "If Blizzard would've done their jobs right," then it wouldn't have lost "the ARPG crown" to a "tiny Australian studio." (In fairness, 2025 was a banner year for tiny Australian studios.)
"I don't know that a developer pointing out that squeezing gamers with nasty MTX tricks 'is stupid'. How in the world are you justifying that there's a 65$ horse skin in DIABLO?" Mahler wrote.
"You were in charge when Blizzard made Diablo Immortal and Diablo 4. You are responsible. And both have done irreparable damage to the Diablo franchise we used to know and love. I'm guessing that's why you got booted and are now the head of some gambling company, Mike. So please don't lecture me on games. I probably forgot more about game design than you will ever know."
Ybarra, too, had more in the tank. "I don't have to work anymore. You do," he shot back. "Just like Xbox's experience in working with you on Ori – all your future partners read this and understand what they are getting involved with. Good luck. I do really wish you and the team the best. You need to chill and focus on your team and your game. I hope it's successful."
In closing – phew – Mahler reminded Ybarra "we're independent" and "not reliant on any publisher," wondering if that is "hard to grasp for people who never worked at private companies and have only experienced the corporate world."
"Not sure why you needed to tell me that you don't have to work anymore, but that I do?" he added. "I work because I love my job, because we want to make amazing games for players, not because someone is forcing me to. And I don't know if pointing out that you got a golden handshake after getting fired for your tenure at Blizzard makes you look particularly great either... Anyway, no hard feelings."
Well, thank goodness there are no hard feelings.
For the record, as Game Developer reported in January 2024, Ybarra departed Blizzard on unclear conditions amid wider layoffs under Microsoft. He then moved to become CEO of Prizepicks, which runs a fantasy sports app.
Personally, I'm just glad we're turning the year with the grace and calm you'd expect from executives on Twitter.
