Activision Blizzard recently made the surprising decision to merge Vicarious Visions–the studio behind Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2–into Blizzard to support other projects. One of those projects is, at least reportedly, a Diablo 2 remake while others at Blizzard continue working on Diablo 4.
According to Bloomberg, issues with the development of Warcraft III: Reforged made Blizzard reconsider the teams it had developing games moving forward, with its classic games “Team 1” being pulled off the project and replaced by a division that is also handling Diablo 4. Warcraft III had been heavily criticized for its poor quality and the lack of meaningful enhancements. Blizzard hadn’t been in the habit of remaking or remastering its games before.
Among the developers also working on that project includes the Vicarious Visions team. It’s the second time a Tony Hawk developer has been absorbed into another studio, with Neversoft joining Infinity Ward in 2014.
That Diablo 2 remake hasn’t been formally announced by Blizzard, but it could be a stopgap release to make the wait for Diablo 4 a little easier. What won’t be easy is dealing with the studio behind one of 2020’s best games getting pulled off its own projects to assist with it. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 not only managed to replicate what made the original games great, such as the level design and sound, but also delivered a core skating experience that felt like it was made today. Nearly every song from the original two games was kept for the remake, as well. This includes the legendary “Superman” by Goldfinger. Unfortuantely, doing everything they could wasn’t enough to be greenlit for another game.
The Diablo franchise will certainly have no shortage of releases going forward if everything reported comes to fruition. Alongside Diablo 4, Blizzard will also release Diablo Immortal for mobile devices, which features classes from previous games like Demon Hunter, Monk, Crusader, and Barbarian. Blizzard continues work on World of Warcraft and Overwatch 2, as well.
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