When news broke that Activision support studioVicarious Visions was officially merging with Blizzard Entertainment, rumors began to swirl around a potential revival of the classic PC game,Diablo 2. Fresh off of the release of the remastered version ofTony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, fans were torn over the fact that the studio wouldn’t be able to continue its excellent remasters of various Activision IPs including potentially more Tony Hawk games.
However, the excitement returned whenVicarious Visions would be attached to theDiablo 2remastered rumors, leaving fans curious to see what the studio could do with such a beloved game. Last month during the all virtual version of BlizzCon, Blizzard confirmed what fans had been expecting. Vicarious Visions was indeed working on Diablo 2: Resurrected and is aiming to launch at the end of the year. While gameplay remains largely the same, the visuals have been overhauled with a new 3D renderer, all new art assets, modern textures, and dynamic 3D lighting.
RELATED:Diablo 2: Resurrected Will Use PS5 Haptic Feedback
Naturally, multiplayer is a huge component of theDiabloseries and again, Vicarious Visions took the opportunity to tap into modern-dayBattle.net to improve the online structure and stability. This includes lobby improvements, global servers, anti-cheat tech and more. However, with an overhauled online experience, Vicarious Visions will be running multiple tests prior to launch, with two planned Alpha tests for single and multiplayer.
With this Remaster, it seems as though Blizzard learned a number of lessons from its disastrousWarcraft 3: Reforgedlaunch. Namely,Diablo 2: Resurrectedwon’t replace the original version ofDiablo 2, keeping that experience separate, untouched, and authentic to the classic experience. After launching very early in 2020,Warcraft 3: Reforgedangered much of the fanbase when it replaced the classic version of the game, making it impossible to play without first updating to theReforgedversion as well as forcing players to agree to new terms of use whereBlizzard effectively owned all created custom maps and modes. Thankfully, with a new team in charge of Diablo 2: Resurrected, those same mistakes likely won’t happen again.
Diablo 2: Resurrectedlaunches later this year for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source:PCGamesN;Diablo 2
