Jason Schreier reports on Bloomberg (may require registration or subscription) that Vicarious Visions is working
on the
long
rumored remake of
Diablo
II. This follows
yesterday's news that the
studio is now part of Blizzard and "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games
and initiatives." According to the new story, the game was being handled by
Blizzard's Team 1, an internal studio responsible for the poorly received
Warcraft III: Reforged. But according to Bloomberg, that team has been
dismantled, and the Diablo II remake is in the hands of the
Diablo IV
team and Vicarious Visions:
Team 1 wanted to avoid repeating the mistakes
of Warcraft III: Reforged on its next project, the remake of Diablo II. Shortly
after the postmortem, however, Blizzard pulled that project from the team and
put the division behind Diablo IV in charge. A group at Vicarious Visions is
also working on the remake, which was known as Diablo II: Resurrected.
On Oct. 15, 2020, Blizzard informed members of Team 1 that it was reorganizing
the entire division, according to the people who worked on Warcraft III:
Reforged. In the following weeks, members of the team were given opportunities
to interview for jobs elsewhere within Blizzard. Those who did not find
positions in the company were gradually cut. Others left for independent studios
recently started by high-profile company veterans, such as Frost Giant Inc. and
DreamHaven Inc., started by Blizzard co-founder and former Chief Executive
Officer Mike Morhaime, whose departure widely signaled the beginning of
Activision's takeover.