Blizzard Entertainment has now incorporated a formerly independent development studio with the participation of publisher Activision. In the course of this, an earlier rumor comes up again: is a remake of the action-RPG classic Diablo II in the works?
Vicarious Visions is by no means an unknown development studio, it was responsible for Activision for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 and Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy. As has now become known, the studio no longer exists in its own separate form; Activision Blizzard has now merged this with Blizzard Entertainment.
The studio will be incorporated into Blizzard Entertainment with immediate effect, which is why Vicarious Visions is unlikely to play Tony Hawk games in the future. Instead, the Blizzard brands come into focus for the development team. Previously, Vicarious Visions had already given several helping hands as a partner, but Blizzard has now seen an opportunity to involve the team in the long term. Jen Oneal, the previous studio manager of Vicarious Visions, will therefore now also be Executive Vice President of Development at Blizzard Entertainment and in this role will report directly to J. Allen Brack, President of Blizzard.
The takeover is currently causing a rumor from last summer to come up again. This is how the renowned magazine reports Bloomberg citing the well-informed insider Jason Schreier that a remake of Diablo II was actually in the works for that team.
Schreier, on the other hand, cites “people who are familiar with the processes in the company”. Accordingly, the project, which will be called Diablo II: Resurrected, will be the first major Blizzard project of the former Vicarious Visions team.
Interesting: Speculations about a remake of the very popular Diablo II next to the full-fledged new offshoot Diablo IV were longer. A development team previously entrusted with this was dismissed in favor of the ex-Vicarious employees after a comparable project with Warcraft III: Reforged recently went quite bad.
The men of Vicarious Visions could be exactly the right people for an ambitious new edition of an absolute classic, because the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy was more or less completely reprogrammed in its time and was very convincing. We will keep you up to date on further developments!
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