Gaming

Diablo 2 remake in the works by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater studio


The birdman’s wings have been clipped (pic: Activision)

Following news that Vicarious Visions has been merged with Activision Blizzard, a new report says it’s already working on a Diablo 2 remake.

Over the weekend, news broke that Vicarious Visions, the studio behind the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater remasters and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, has been fully merged with Activision Blizzard.

Shortly after that, Bloomberg reported that Vicarious Visions is already working on its next project: a remake of Diablo 2.

According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the Diablo 2 remake was originally being helmed by Blizzard’s Team 1, which was responsible for games like Starcraft 2 and the infamous Warcraft 3 Reforged.

But last year, the Diablo 2 remake was given to Team 3 instead, with Vicarious Visions brought in to assist with development. As for Team 1, it was quietly disbanded last autumn.

Team 3 is also currently working on Diablo 4, a whole new entry in the series which was announced in 2019 and currently has no release date.

While Diablo 2 was a critical and commercial success when it released in 2000 and is still a very popular title, the news that Vicarious Visions has been absorbed into Activision has been met with dissatisfaction and sadness from fans.

Fans are upset that the studio will no longer serve as lead developer on future games and instead solely support already existing Blizzard games, as described by Activision when speaking to Gamesindustry.biz.

This includes not just the aforementioned Diablo 2 remake, but most likely Overwatch and its sequel as well. There has been very little talk about said sequel since its announcement, but director Jeff Kaplan has assured that there will be news this February during the BlizzCon Online event.

Considering how successful the Tony Hawk and Crash Bandicoot remasters were, many have criticised the decision, frustrated that Vicarious Visions isn’t being allowed to make its own games anymore.

It means that any further remasters of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater are now unlikely, and brings an ignominious fate upon an underappreciated studio that has also done some excellent work with the Skylanders series over the years.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.


MORE : Diablo 4 Ancient items replaced by mystery consumable after gamer backlash


MORE : Overwatch 2 announced at BlizzCon 2019 – watch both trailers here


MORE : Activision CEO Bobby Kotick paid $20 million a year, shareholders say it’s too much

Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.