We are excited to share the announcement Blizzard made regarding Diablo 2: Resurrected that is in development! This has been a long awaited announcement that we've all been looking forward to.

Early Access Beta: 8/13 - 8/16
Open Beta: 8/20 - 8/22
Release date announced: Sep 23 2021

Some details we know so far:
- Diablo® II: Resurrected™ will be released on or before December 2021.
- Expanded and Shared Stash
- Multi-platform: Windows, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, Xbox
- Redesigned User Interface: Item tooltip comparison, new advanced stats display, automatic partying upon entering multiplayer games and more.
- Updated graphics and cinematics in 4k with a zoom feature
- Auto gold pickup (optional), and controller support
- Possible quick keys to access the stash, Item comparison
- Ability to toggle between legacy and resurrected mode
- Existing features maintained, including PvP and trading
- Battle.net UI updates, ability to search for games under your current unlocked difficulty (Eg; Hell characters can search Nightmare games)
- Reduced ladder season durations
- View legacy ladder rankings
- No more character expiration
- Duplicate names allowed, appended by your tag
- Global servers, no more individual realms

More info from Q&A: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3dL7ZeIAsE)
- Cross progression, but not cross play between platforms
- Controller support for PC
- Old game styles still supported, such as TCP/IP, local/offline gameplay, etc.
- More protection against cheats/bots due to using the new battle.net framework, including ability to report players for toxic behavior
- Collisions and gameplay in general remains true to the original game (ie, single file player blocking in Maggot Lair)
- Will use v1.14, not any previous patches
- Resolution will be same for Classic/Expansion (4k)
- Original framerates still apply, but game graphics render at modern speeds, so breakpoints will all work the same
- Item trading remains the same, with expanded features, such as item linking in chat
- No new runewords (at this time)
- Will not overwrite the original D2, everything will be separate
- Games are separate, so you cannot copy original D2 characters into D2R
- Shako will still be green (all items will look the "same" from the original)

More info from Lead Dev Q&A:
- Configurable controls, mostly same
- Expanded Stash, Shared Stash, possibly additional shared stash tabs, classic still remains the same
- No plans for loot filters, or gem/rune stacking
- Shortcuts for quick moving things from inventory to stash
- No api plans for battle.net for D2:R
- Cross progression, but not cross-play, meaning, different systems will be isolated from actual gameplay (ie, PC players cannot play with Xbox players in the same game)
- Will fix bugs that "misinform" the player with unintended displays or calculations, but not gameplay quirks
- No mixing of online/offline players
- Will be v1.14d, no current plans for anything beyond this
- Improvements to making and finding games (lobby)
- Will try to keep Dclone spawning similar or same as it is today
- Ladder only runewords will remain as it is today (online/ladder only)
- No plans for a Mac release at this time
- Support for ultrawide monitors, while not unfairly affecting gameplay
- Maintaining the same tinting and coloring, while balancing display with active lighting (should continue to improve as they work on it, and looking for feedback during tech alpha)
- Want to maintain mod support, improve features (less hardcoding, more data availability, possible ui changing support) -- still separate from online play
- Plan to make sure lighting is as close to original as possible to prevent switching between classic/resurrected modes for advantages
- Monster AI will remain the same, including monster aggro range
- Modernized battle.net ui for friend list, integrated friend list in game, and lobby, no voice chat plans, old chat commands still supported
- Plans to try and keep controller support as close to mouse play as possible
- Additional animations will be added, such as moving/stopping, or standing still, more diversity depending on what the character is wearing while using certain skills, including some audio upgrades and more sounds, no new emotes


More details on the official website: https://diablo2.blizzard.com/en-us/#overview

We will keep you updated as more features and details are released. We will be adding new forums as required including beta, trading and discussion forums. While we wait for more information join us in discussing this exciting release in our newly created forum: Diablo 2: Resurrected.

Thank you!

This post was edited by njaguar on Aug 10 2021 12:15pm