Around about March this year, Blizzard Entertainment published a host of job listings on their site that hinted at new game developments underway. There was little ambiguity in the details, and it appeared like we could be in for a new Diablo game:
"Blizzard Entertainment is seeking exceptionally skilled and passionate senior concept artists to help drive the vision of characters and world's in our next hit game! We're looking for artists that are self-starting, versatile, and enjoy being part of a collaborative environment. The ideal candidate shares our sensibilities, loves dark medieval world's, and feels there are countless stories left to tell in the Diablo universe!"
At first, this sparked discussion that Diablo 4 was going to be developed. An example is a Tweaktown post on the matter (posted here). However, as soon as Starcraft: Remastered was announced, the debate shifted direction. Could we be seeing a remastered edition of an old Diablo game soon? Is it possible that Blizzard would shift direction back to the old classics to make them as great as Diablo 3?
A job listing for a Senior Software Engineer discovered by wccftech seems to confirm these suspicions:
‘Qualities that made StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Diablo II the titans of their day…We’re restoring them to glory, and we need your engineering talents, your passion, and your ability to get tough jobs done.’
As yet, Blizzard Entertainment has made no official announcement in this regard, but it seems pretty clear that Diablo 2 Remastered could be the next Diablo game that will be released. And I for one will be well pleased with this news. I still have the original Diablo 2 game on PC, and have been wishing ever since I first obtained it that it could be redone for console. If we are treated to a Remastered edition that holds similar features as Diablo 3, I am very excited by this prospect.
Some of the key features of D3 that I hope they bring to D2 are the upgraded inventory system, the vast array of weapons and armor, and a major boost to the graphics. It will be great to see how all those old beasts and bosses will be portrayed with modern graphic design.
And I really want the local multiplayer feature included. With Diablo 1 on the Playstation 2, we could play up to 2 players on one screen. D2 didn’t come to console, sadly, but D3 pleased us with up to 4 players on one screen. With such a large family as mine that loves to play games together rather than watch someone play, this feature has kept us playing for days…. Nay, months on end.
So here’s hoping for a press release from Blizzard soon that D2 will be remastered, and that some of the best features of D3 will be transported over to it. If we are only given the same game with improved graphics, I will be severely and utterly disappointed.
