The mysterious Diablo II Resurrected remaster could be revealed in late 2020, sources tell ActuGaming's Julien Blary.
Diablo II just turned 20 years old and Blizzard didn't really do much to celebrate it. There was no big in-game event, no surprise expansion, no anticipated Diablo II Resurrected remaster. The company missed a big opportunity to underline a rare 20th anniversary event, but new reports say Blizzard is saving an announcement for late 2020.
Actu Gaming's Julien Blary, who originally broke the Diablo II Resurrected news, now says progress on the nebulous remaster is accelerating at Blizzard. A reveal could be slated for 2020's end and a full-on release could follow in 2021 or thereabouts.
Right now Blizzard only has one game slated for 2020 with World of Warcraft's new Shadowlands update. The devs have yet to actually confirm a Diablo II remaster is happening, but this isn't the first time we've heard about the project.
Back in February 2020, Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said that new remasters and re-releases were coming in 2020. This was pre-COVID-19 shutdowns, though, so those plans may have shifted.
"In addition, our business units will continue to tap into our portfolio of beloved IP to bring several remastered and re-imagined experiences to our players in 2020, which we will announce closer to launch," Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in the Q4'20 earnings call.
Activision-Blizzard are currently ramping up their workforce to help solidify their ambitious new four-part plan, which includes making new games, releasing mobile ports, enacting new engagement strategies, and maintaining live services. The company plans to hire 2,000 employees this year alone.
While the bulk of Blizzard's core development teams are working on new projects like Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, and maintaining lucrative service games like World of Warcraft, a smaller team could be handling these re-releases and remasters. A Diablo II remaster will apparently be a massive undertaking with tons of challenges, though.
Original Diablo II developer David Brevik said the remaster would take lots of effort and be "extremely hard":
"I can say from a technical standpoint that it's going to be extremely difficult. That you will not be able to capture it exactly the way it was," original Diablo creator David Brevik said in a February 2018 IGN interview.
"The number one reason is because of the shape of the screen. Because the screens back then were 800x600 and largely square, and now they're not, they're 16:9 and 16:10, we did a lot of tricks."