Fans of the Diablo franchise are very excited for Diablo 4, but a nostalgic subset of those fans have also been hoping for news about a potential Diablo 2 Remastered project. For now, there's no official word that Diablo 2 Remastered is being made, but there are, however, increasing rumors it's being made. The latest example is a rumor yet again saying that a Diablo 2 remaster is in development named Diablo 2 Resurrected.
The rumor comes from French outlet ActuGaming, who claims to have heard of Diablo 2 Resurrected from sources close Blizzard. Coincidentally, however, Diablo 2 Resurrected isn't a Blizzard-led project. Rather, Diablo 2 Resurrected is being developed by Activision studio Vicarious Visions.
Vicarious Visions is perhaps best known for its Transformers games from around 2010, as well as being one of Activision's core Skylanders teams. Since Skylanders faltered, Vicarious Visions has been reinventing itself as a studio specializing in overhauling older games. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled are the studio's two most recent releases. Both have been very well-received, due to being true to the original titles while still having modern sensibilities.
Perhaps the most unbelievable, but nonetheless exciting part of the new rumor is Diablo 2 Resurrected's release date. Apparently, Vicarious Visions is set to release the remastered Diablo 2 for modern platforms in 2020. That might mean it's coming prior to the next-gen console launches this holiday season or afterward.
An announcement, if this rumor is accurate and not faked, could potentially come in the next several months. Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest has confirmed that both Activision and Blizzard are a part of its May through August plans. Alternatively, Blizzard may want to save the announcement and have it be a surprise during BlizzCon 2020. Of course, BlizzCon 2020 may ultimately be canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
It's worth repeating that this is just a rumor. There's no firm evidence that a Diablo 2 remaster is being developed, let alone that Activision's Vicarioous Visions will have it finished for launch in 2020. This past year, Diablo's original developers even said they have a hard time believing a Diablo 2 remaster will ever be made because much of Diablo 2's source code and assets were irrevocably lost ages ago. Blizzard has performed miracles before, though, like how it resurrected vanilla World of Warcraft for Classic. Anything is possible given time.
Diablo 2 is currently available on PC through Battle.net.
Source: ResetEra