Diablo 2 Resurrected Won't Lock You Out Of Diablo 2 Like Warcraft 3: Reforged Did

Blizzard has reiterated publicly that it will not repeat the mistake of Warcraft 3: Reforged with Diablo 2: Resurrected, meaning that the remaster will not replace Diablo 2 in any way, shape, or form. Lead designer Rob Gallerani said that Resurrected will "absolutely not" overwrite existing Diablo 2 installs. Blizzard previously told GameSpot this information during BlizzCon.

"Everything you have about D2 currently will stay D2," Gallerani said, per Eurogamer. "This is a separate product, separate game. You can play them both at the same time if you want."

As any hardcore Blizzard fan will tell you, this is a necessary step for the developer to take because of the controversy surrounding the studio's ill-fated Warcraft 3 remaster. Warcraft 3: Reforged replaced the original Warcraft 3 client entirely, which surprised many of the game's longtime fans.

Though the remaster gave players the option to trigger the original visuals, several features key to the original game were missing from the remaster, such as custom campaign support, meaning that players no longer had access to them. Needless to say, this triggered a flurry of fan complaints.

Diablo 2: Resurrected was announced at BlizzCon 2021, and it's coming out later this year. (Check out our Diablo 2: Resurrected alpha impressions for more.) The game will feature a playable alpha where Blizzard can collect fan feedback to avoid another Warcraft 3 situation. Regarding Reforged, Blizzard has committed to restoring all the game's cut online features in a future update. Tony Hawk 1 + 2 developer Vicarious Visions was folded into Blizzard to help support the Diablo 2 remake.