Blizzard presented the new game “Diablo 2: Resurrected” at BlizzCon 2021. The last remaster, Warcraft 3 Reforged, was a complete flop. The head of the Diablo series is distancing himself from the debacle as quickly as possible. The original Diablo 2 will be left completely untouched, promises Rod Ferguson.
So the head distances himself from the D2 remaster of Warcraft 3: In an interview with PC Gamer, the new head of Diablo places a significant distance between himself and “Warcraft 3 Reforged.” He states:
“It’s a different team and that [Warcraft 3 Reforged] was before my time at Blizzard.”
Rod Fergusson, the Diablo head of Blizzard
This is what Rod Fergusson says: He joined Blizzard in February 2020 to oversee the Diablo series, including Diablo 4, Diablo Immortal, and now the newly released Diablo 2. Warcraft 3 Reforged was already released in January 2020.
Blizzard seems to be changing its team
What does he mean by new team? That’s a bit delicate. “Warcraft 3 Reforged” was apparently developed by Team 1 at Blizzard. Team 1 had been responsible for:
- Heroes of the Storm
- Starcraft II
- and most recently Warcraft 3 Reforged, after support for Starcraft 2 and HotS more or less ceased
According to an insider report by Jason Schreier from January 2021, “Team 1” was actually supposed to take over the development of Diablo 2 Resurrected. However, they were stripped of the project after the fiasco with Warcraft 3 Reforged. The team was reportedly dissolved.
The task of making a remaster of Diablo 2, was then handed over to the Activision studio “Vicarious Visions” and apparently to the Diablo team. Representatives from Vicarious Visions and Rod Fergusson, the Diablo head, were interview partners with GameStar Plus when they posed questions about Diablo 2 Resurrected (via GameStar Plus).
So when the head of the Diablo team distances himself from Warcraft 3 Reforged and says, “that was before my time at Blizzard,” it’s a clear statement.
In January 2021, Vicarious Visions was integrated into Blizzard. Vicarious Visions is apparently primarily working on Diablo 2 Resurrected – they are supposed to fulfill the role that “Team 1” was originally intended for.
The original Diablo 2 remains the original Diablo 2
What is Diablo 2 doing differently now? A mistake that Warcraft 3 made and that Blizzard will not repeat: The original game will remain untouched.
Diablo 2 Resurrected is being built using the original code of Diablo 2, but it is a completely standalone game:
“One thing we want to ensure: The original D2 remains the original D2. We will make sure the game remains intact.
For example: There’s a terrible hacking mod that jeopardizes the security of the game. But if that’s your favorite way to play Diablo 2, you can still do that. Because we won’t support that kind of mod for D2 Resurrected. Keeping both games completely separate was an important step.”
Rod Fergusson
Why is this important? The game “Warcraft 3 Reforged” was released in January 2020 and received – for a Blizzard game – terrible reviews on Metacritic. It stands at 59 out of 100.
One of the biggest criticisms was that Warcraft 3 Reforged was so bad that it even ruined the original “Warcraft 3”. Suddenly features were removed that had functioned for almost 20 years, such as clans, LAN, and the ranked system.
With Diablo 2 Resurrected, Blizzard does not want to repeat this mistake.
Warcraft 3 Reforged was a huge disappointment for many Blizzard fans and has shaken their faith in the company. It is all the more bitter that even in 2021, few improvements can be seen in the game.
Warcraft III: Reforged turned 1 year old – Even Blizzard has forgotten it
