BlizzCon Online is just a week away and no one is more excited than fans of the Diablo franchise. It's been months since the last news regarding Diablo 4's development was shared. And there are still rumors swirling about a Diablo 2 remaster or remake, as well. For Diablo fans unwilling to wait until Blizzard is ready to release a new game, however, there's something else to consider. A new update for the fan-made Curse of Tristram mod of Diablo 2, made in the StarCraft 2 engine, has just been issued.
The Curse of Tristram mod utilizes the StarCraft 2 engine to remaster and remake the first act of Diablo 2. It features Normal, Nightmare, and Hell difficulties, allowing players a range of challenging content to explore. The modder also added a variety of new features, new items, and even hosts weekly multiplayer events on Battle.net's servers. It sounds a lot like exactly what Diablo fans might want to keep them distracted until there's further Diablo news.
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The sad side of today's Curse of Tristram announcement is that it's also the end of the project. Development of Curse of Tristram will be stopping. The modder says that it's due in part to rumors regarding Diablo 2's remake and otherwise due to the difficulty involved with working on the StarCraft 2 engine. They explain that continuing to expand the project is also making it that much harder to work on, so limiting it to just Act 1 is beneficial overall.
In order to play the Curse of Tristram mod, players will need to download the free version of StarCraft 2 on Blizzard's Battle.net app. Afterward, the Curse of Tristram mod can be found in StarCraft 2's custom game section, branded as StarCraft 2 Arcade. It's all entirely free to play and since it's done through Blizzard's engine and custom game system, it's officially sanctioned, too. In other words, it won't get shut down due to legal threats down the line.
Curse of Tristram's modder even goes as far as saying that the mod had the support of ex-Blizzard devs, though it isn't clear in what capacity. The modder explains that Curse of Tristram is a love letter to Diablo 2, which they consider a "true masterpiece." While the project won't be finished, they're "super proud" of what they accomplished with what was available to them.
As for the rumored Diablo 2 remake, there remains no official confirmation that such a project is in development. If the rumors are to be believed, Activision studio Vicarious Visions is sad to be making the Diablo 2 remake. Further, rumors point to an announcement being made at BlizzCon Online in a week. Those rumors haven't been verified, but regardless, there's a lot for Diablo fans to be excited for right now.
Diablo 2 is available now on PC.