Diablo II was one of the most popular games by Blizzard when it was first launched over 20 years ago.
However today, the game may seem like an ancient relic, losing its appeal towards the younger crowd of gamers due to its “old and outdated” graphics.
To spark life back into Diablo II, Blizzard has remastered it — dramatically improving the graphics and visual presentation of the game, while keeping the gameplay elements entirely the same.
The news was announced at the recent BlizzCon 2021 event, alongside updates of Diablo Immortal, a new upcoming game for mobile by the popular franchise.
Remastering older games isn’t something new to Blizzard, as the company had previously improved the popular Starcraft and Starcraft Broodwar compendium.
Diablo II: Remastered will be available on both PC and consoles, with cross-platform progression, allowing players to pick up from where they left off in the game.
“This isn’t a remake,” said Fergusson. “We’re not reverse-engineering it; we’re not rebuilding it and trying to make it look and sound like [Diablo 2]. This is [Diablo 2]. […] It’s right there, underneath the surface. The entire simulation, the engine for this game, that lifeblood of this game, is [Diablo 2] right underneath. So there’s a toggle switch, a legacy toggle, that when you press the button, you’ll see behind the curtains, and there is Diablo 2 in 2D sprites running right there, and you can play the way that you played 20 years ago.”