A remake of the 2000s Diablo 2 was currently under development, although the team currently working on it is the former subsidiary of Activision Vicarious Visions, which is now part of Blizzard Entertainment, Bloomberg reported over the weekend.
The plot in Bloomberg’s report is twofold: First, that the Diablo 2 remake is underway, and secondly, that the rampant launch of Warcraft 3: Reforged a year ago played a role in corporate leadership the remake, called Diablo 2: Resurrected, out of Blizzard’s hands.
Blizzard’s Team 1 was responsible for the Diablo 2 remake, but after an internal analysis after the launch of Warcraft 3: Reforged, Activision Blizzard has taken away Team 1.’s project. Last week, Vicarious Visions in Albany merged with Blizzard’s development operations in Irvine, California.
The dissolution of Vicarious Visions and its consolidation with Blizzard development was first reported on January 22 by GamesIndustry.biz. GamesIndustry.biz also reported that Jen Oneal, the Vicarious Visions studio head, is now executive vice president of development for Blizzard and reports directly to Blizzard boss J. Allen Brack.
Bloomberg calls the move a further consolidation of control over Blizzard by CEOs of Activision Blizzard Inc. Blizzard and Activision have been together since a merger in 2008 that brought Vivendi Games, Blizzard’s parent company, aboard Activision. Blizzard continued to operate autonomously and games such as Ear Watch and World of Warcraft internally and largely separate from Activision’s publishing field Call of Duty, Destiny and other mega-franchises.
Bloomberg reports that the departure of Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime in 2018 “broadly marked the beginning of Activision’s acquisition.” Two months after Morhaime left, Blizzard effectively closed Heroes of the Storm and then, in October 2020, the company announced that further development would be terminated StarCraft 2, which was launched in 2010.
Both HOTS and Star craft 2 was Blizzard Team 1 projects. StarCraft 2The retirement was announced the same day that Team 1 was reorganized internally, Bloomberg said.
Warcraft 3: Reforged, a remake of the fantasy-real-time simulation of 2002, was a critical flop, with most judges and players deeply disappointed at the appearance of bugs and errors and the absence of expected features. One week after the launch of January 28, 2020, Blizzard apologizes Reforged‘s launch statement, promised that support after the launch would correct the problems, and offered refunds to anyone who was dissatisfied with the purchase.
Diablo 4 was announced at BlizzCon in November 2019. It does not yet have a launch date or window.