[이코노믹리뷰=전현수 기자] The’Legend’ game, which has been released for more than 20 years, returns. This is the story of Blizzard’s’Diablo 2′.
According to industry sources on the 22nd, Blazard Entertainment announced that it will release’Diablo 2: Resurrection’, a remastered version of Diablo 2, within this year. As the original Diablo 2 was a popular game that caused many domestic game fans to sleep at night, expectations for the remastered version are also rising. The’legendary’ of the game world, which is synonymous with the typical’Ajae Game’, is raising the excitement of gamers.
Blizzard Entertainment announced that it will release Diablo 2: Resurrection, which remastered Diablo 2 and its expansion pack Lord of Destruction, within the year through its game festival BlizzConline, which was held for two days on the 20th and 21st.
Diablo 2 is a PC action RPG (role-playing game) released in 2000, and is regarded as the beginning of the’hack and slash’ genre that provides exciting action and hitting feeling.
It has attracted sensational popularity in Korea and has led numerous gamers to PC rooms. Diablo 2 is also regarded as one of the best RPGs of all time overseas, and is praised as a title that made a mark in the history of the game.
As the news of the resurrection of the game, which is now a memory, is heard, fans of the original game are expressing their expectations. In the first video released by Blizzard on YouTube on the 20th of Diablo 2: Resurrection trailer, including Jong-won Baek, who operates a cooking YouTube channel, influencers with dozens and millions of subscribers in various fields make a series of comments. Is losing.
Diablo 2: Resurrection incorporates modern technology. The game’s graphics have been re-implemented from the existing 2D to 3D, and the graphic effects have also been modernized and displayed in up to 4K resolution. The sound level was also raised. In addition, this time, it will support not only PCs, but also console platforms such as PS, Xbox, and Nintendo.
However, Blizzard focused on the original in order to elevate the memories of the original users. In the case of graphics, new and old versions are provided simultaneously so that users can select the original graphic if they want. It also preserves the unique gameplay and system. The goal is to capture both original fans and new fans.
J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment, said, “(via the remastered version) you can enjoy the same fun and engaging gameplay as it was 20 years ago with Diablo II: Resurrection’s high-resolution audio and video.”
Classic’box check’… Sales performance glance
The appearance of Diablo 2 is in the return of classic games and further reinterpretation.
In fact, this is not the first time Blizzard’s’classic’ version has been released. In 2017, the remastered version of the strategy game’StarCraft’ was released and the popularity of StarCraft withered was invigorated.
In 2019, the classic version of the popular MMORPG’World of Warcraft (WOW)’ was released and succeeded in running backwards on the PC chart. In particular, the classic WOW version drew a great response to the point that it was difficult for users to seamlessly access the game due to the occurrence of a server queue even though all elements that were inconvenient in the past were reproduced.
Blizzard is planning to introduce the classic system to another popular card game, Hearthstone. This mode is for users who want to enjoy Hearthstone as it is in the early days. In this mode, you can only play with the original card that was released at the beginning of the release, and you can play the same rank as the existing Hearthstone.
The reason for introducing the classic version of such a popular game is basically based on the needs of users. Since game companies also focus on reproduction, they can create new products more efficiently than creating new IPs for the same development period. Above all, the classic version actually increases the number of users and sales.
In particular, in the domestic game market, the strategy of’recalling memories’ as a keyword has become a box office trend that penetrates the industry. The popular PC online game was reborn on mobile with ‘000 M’, and success stories poured out. This trend is still ongoing. Moreover, the strategy of introducing a separate classic server is also working in the PC online game itself. As a representative example, NCsoft’s’Aion’ released the classic version and re-entered the top 10 PC cafe charts, and is in its second heyday.
However, users’ dissatisfaction with the lack of new IP in the overall game industry is also not easy. Some point out that game companies seek only a way that is too comfortable and stable.
Blizzard is also conscious of the regrets of these users, saying, “The development of new IP games is steadily in progress.” President J Allen Brack said in a media interview, “Blizzard has been working hard to create new games for the past 30 years, and plans to do so in the future.”