When news broke that Activision support studio Vicarious 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 of Tony 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 when Vicarious Visions would be attached to the Diablo 2 remastered 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.
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Naturally, multiplayer is a huge component of the Diablo series and again, Vicarious Visions took the opportunity to tap into modern-day Battle.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.
Diablo 2: Resurrected lead producer Chris Lena confirmed that the first alpha test will be strictly for single player elements, followed by a second technical alpha aimed at mutliplayer and server stress testing. Unfortunately, there are no hard dates for when these alpha tests will come online, but eager fans can sign up on the official website for a chance to gain access.
With this Remaster, it seems as though Blizzard learned a number of lessons from its disastrous Warcraft 3: Reforged launch. Namely, Diablo 2: Resurrected won't replace the original version of Diablo 2, keeping that experience separate, untouched, and authentic to the classic experience. After launching very early in 2020, Warcraft 3: Reforged angered much of the fanbase when it replaced the classic version of the game, making it impossible to play without first updating to the Reforged version as well as forcing players to agree to new terms of use where Blizzard 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: Resurrected launches later this year for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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