More than 25 years later, Blizzard is finally willing to expand what many consider the best Diablo ever, but this time it isn’t solely up to the company. The future of Diablo II: Resurrected hinges on how players receive the Warlock and the brand-new expansion. In other words, Blizzard is leaving the door open for more Diablo II add-ons – provided the community doesn’t explode over Reign of the Warlock.
Some franchises invite backlash the moment you touch their legacy, and Diablo II sits right at the top of that list. A few days ago, Blizzard released Reign of the Warlock, the first new expansion for Diablo II: Resurrected since Lord of Destruction, adding a new class (Warlock) that will also show up in Diablo IV and Diablo Immortal. But the DLC also arrived with an unspoken pledge: if this one lands, more expansions could follow.
Diablo II Might Have a Brighter Future
Blizzard also knows it’s stepping onto holy ground, because the Diablo II crowd is fiercely protective of the ARPG. In an interview with Eurogamer, lead producer Matthew Cederquist made it plain that Diablo II: Resurrected’s future depends directly on how the community responds to Reign of the Warlock. “We’re excited about the opportunity we now have to see what the community says about what we’re doing. We still have millions of people playing Diablo II”, he said.
“I hope this is as epic for players as we found it to be. But is it a declaration of something new? We’ll have to see what the players say”, Cederquist hinted. And Blizzard isn’t only talking about more expansions – it’s also floating the idea of deeper changes to Diablo II itself. “Let’s say we wanted to change the Barbarian for some reason. I wouldn’t want to surprise people with that. That would involve working closely with the community, listening to their feedback”, the Blizzard creative explained.
The approach they’ve settled on is splitting Diablo II into two distinct branches. One is the classic “Resurrected” build that stays untouched, and the other is the “Reign of the Warlock” track where the new expansion – and any future alterations – will live. “If you don’t want to play a warlock for whatever reason and you hate loot filters, you can still have Resurrected and it’s going to stay there. If we make future changes to any class or anything else, it’s going to happen in that Reign of the Warlock space”, Cederquist explained.
Reign of the Warlock Could Be a Turning Point for Diablo II: Resurrected
While Diablo II: Resurrected looks forward carefully, Diablo III is largely where it has been for years. In the same Eurogamer interview, Cederquist insisted that “there are millions of people still playing Diablo III”, and that it continues to have a “huge, massive player base”, even as Diablo IV remains strong with Lord of Hatred just around the corner. Essentially, Blizzard is signaling that Diablo II can keep growing if players accept it and sales justify it, and that Diablo III is somehow still thriving against expectations.
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