Activision Blizzard has been running damage control since the State of California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against the company in July for discrimination and harassment. One of the results of the suit has been Blizzard changing the names of in-game characters who were named after employees implicated in the questionable behavior, like Jesse McCree and Alex Afrasiabi. Many people believe that those character alterations carried over to Diablo 2: Resurrected as well.

Diablo 2: Resurrected underwent cosmetic and quality-of-life changes, although basic gameplay has remained unaltered. The original Diablo 2 featured 2D sprites, which have been upgraded to 3D models in Resurrected, and the game’s cutscenes and some songs have been remastered as well. A more noticeable change was in the appearance of the Amazon character, who many considered to be overly sexualized in the original game. The previously curvaceous female warrior now looks more proportional and seems to have aged about 20 years.

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Many players, fueled by nostalgia, were unhappy with the changes to the Amazon, including outspoken Twitch streamer Asmongold. Usually, the content creator’s criticism is aimed at World of Warcraft, to the point where Blizzard has accused Asmongold of stirring up drama in the WoW community. This time, however, the streamer is displeased specifically with the new version of Diablo 2's Amazon. Blizzard has explained that the Amazon was changed in Diablo 2: Resurrected because the company wanted to ensure that all characters looked like their role and not as if they had just “rolled out of a nightclub.”

Asmongold isn’t buying it. In a Twitch stream on September 22, he spoke about the changes in Diablo 2: Resurrected. “I know a lot of people might not really care, but I do. I don’t like to see this happen, this revisionism. I want to play a video game. The extent that they’re going to change the game based off of them trying to make up for the fact they molest people at their office is just, it’s insulting to me as a player. I think that it’s also condescending. It’s patronizing. … The game is no longer an artistic expression, it’s now a vehicle to promote an agenda and a worldview.”

diablo 2 resurrected technical alpha screenshot

If Blizzard did modify the Amazon’s character model in direct response to the DFEH lawsuit, it’s understandable if not necessarily appreciated. The company has experienced a lot of internal upheaval as Blizzard employees staged a walkout and several top executives left. The first of these was Blizzard president J. Allen Brack shortly after the accusations went public, soon followed by the company’s head of HR, Jesse Meschuk. The most recent departures from Blizzard include the executive producer of Overwatch 2 Chacko Sunny and Claire Hart, the company’s chief legal officer. While the latter two are not believed to have participated in the behavior described in the lawsuit, their exit is still thought to be a direct result of the situation.

The company also had an additional lawsuit filed against it on behalf of Activision Blizzard employees via the National Labor Relations Board. Additionally, a number of investors feel that they were misled by the company when it didn’t disclose the DFEH investigation, which took place over the course of two years, and the SEC is now investigating Activision Blizzard as a result.

Diablo 2: Resurrected is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Sources: Dexerto, Twitch (1), (2)