Earlier today, it was reported that Vicarious Visions, the studio that previously worked on Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, would be leaving Activision and joining the fold at Blizzard. At the time, we didn’t know what the developer would be working on next, but it seems as though we now have our answer.
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Coming by way of Bloomberg, it is being reported that Vicarious Visions is set to now develop a remake of Blizzard’s beloved Diablo II. This remake is set to be another in Blizzard’s ongoing “Classic” lineup that has previously brought about games like StarCraft Remastered and Warcraft III: Reforged. Given the history that Vicarious Visions has when it comes to remastering games from the past, the studio’s shift to Blizzard now makes a bit more sense.
Blizzard’s Team 1 was responsible for StarCraft II, Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft Remastered, and Warcraft 3 Reforged (which was the product of — surprise! — unrealistic deadlines created by financial pressures). Its next project was going to be the Diablo 2 remake.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 22, 2021
The report goes on to say that Blizzard has been working on a remake of Diablo II for the past year, but a major shift in development transpired in 2020. Team 1, the name of the studio within Blizzard that previously worked on titles like StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm, was at one point the group working on the game. However, after the poor response to Warcraft III: Reforged, which was also made by this team, Blizzard decided to shift the remake of Diablo II over to Team 3, which is the same developer working on Diablo IV. At this point, Vicarious Visions was then brought on to help work on the project.
As for other major mentionables in the report, this new remake is said to be called Diablo II: Resurrected. While that might not be the game’s final title when it releases, that seems to be what Blizzard is dubbing it internally at the moment. In addition, Vicarious Visions is said to have been working with the team at Blizzard for a bit at this point. Even though this move was only just announced earlier today to the public, this has been something going on behind the scene for awhile.
At the moment, we don’t know when this new iteration of Diablo II might be arriving, but the fact that it even seems to be on its way is surely enough to excite many fans. Perhaps we might hear more about it at BlizzCon, which is set to take place next month on February 19th and 20th.
So what about you? Are you looking forward to an all-new iteration of Diablo II? Let me know either down in the comments or over on Twitter at @MooreMan12.
