Blizzard has been rumored to be remastering Diablo 2 for several years in running and if the stars are finally aligning, a release could possibly be near.
Following a recent earnings call earlier in the week, anonymous sources close to Blizzard (via ActualGaming) have claimed that Diablo 2 Resurrected — remastered — has been pegged for a release around the holiday season in fall. Provided that the claims are legitimate, Blizzard will probably make an announcement during BlizzCon 2020 in November. However, the report points out that the release window could be pushed back by then due to COVID-19.
Back in late 2019, a leaker who accurately predicted the announcement of Diablo 4 stated that a remastered Diablo 2 was actually dropped by Blizzard in favor of a new installment. It was suggested that Blizzard switched gears to channel new ideas into a complete package in the form of Diablo 4 instead of spending resources on overhauling a decades-old installment.
Hence, at the time, a Diablo 2 Remastered was believed to have been scrapped entirely. However, rumors still kept surfacing that the project remained in the pipelines; just that development was going extremely slow.
It goes without saying that Diablo 4 will not be releasing for another couple of years at least. Re-releasing Diablo 2 between now and then would actually be a good idea since the events of both games are presumably linked. Furthermore, Blizzard has committed to a dark and gritty take on the upcoming new installment, and will be returning to its roots. In other words, Diablo 2 can give players a fair idea of what to expect from the new Diablo 4.
Diablo 4 is still a long way off, with a speculated launch in 2021. PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC have been confirmed to be the destined platforms. However, Blizzard is likely eying the next-generation consoles as well. On that note, the developer has shown great interest in supporting cross-play for Diablo 4. Hopefully, the feature makes it this time. It didn’t with Diablo 3.
