Diablo is back in the public spotlight following Blizzcon 2019, where highly anticipated sequel Diablo 4 was officially announced. The excitement for Diablo 4 ended up overrunning another Diablo-related rumor that didn't end up panning out. That is, the rumor that Blizzard was going to announce a Diablo 2 remaster during BlizzCon 2019 in addition to Diablo 4. But some discussion is still happening about the rumored remaster, leading to the franchise's creators to even step in and comment on the possibility.

Speaking to GameSpot at Path of Exile's ExileCon, where they were invited as special guests, Diablo creators Max and Erich Schaefer had some bad news for fans interested in a Diablo 2 remaster. Namely, that they both believe such a thing to be an incredible challenge to do, due to certain circumstances with Diablo 2's development. According to the Schaefers, late in Diablo 2's development Blizzard North suffered the corruption of its backup data drives. Meaning that much of Diablo 2's original code and assets were irrevocably lost.

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"It's all gone. We were supposed to have a backup but neglected it. We spent a day or two in sheer panic," says Erich, capturing the gravity of the situation. While the team at Blizzard North was ultimately able to piece together the game based on chunks stored on individual computers, the history of Diablo 2's development was gone. "It would make it very difficult for Blizzard to do a Diablo 2 remaster," Erich confirms, noting that Blizzard would have to make many of the assets over from scratch.

That isn't to say that Blizzard isn't capable of creating a Diablo 2 remaster, of course. The studio certainly has the resources and talent to do pretty much anything it chooses to do in game development, but that doesn't mean that it would. Those resources could easily be put into Diablo 4, which is certain to be much more lucrative in the long run. Nevertheless, it's interesting to have Diablo's original creators step in and over insight into modern-day Diablo development.

diablo 2 battle chest

Erich and Max's comments regarding Diablo 2's development could ultimately offer a hint at the future. While it's true that Blizzard might have to replace all of Diablo 2's assets in order to remaster it, what better way to do that than to make assets for Diablo 4 that can be used in a Diablo 2 remaster? If Blizzard made Diablo 4 assets multipurpose and used them for a Diablo 2 remaster, it's possible that the game could still be released prior to Diablo 4. Or otherwise made down the road. For Diablo 2 fans, there's no reason to give up hope just yet.

Diablo 2 is out now for PC.

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Source: GameSpot