Diablo II returns . . . and Hell has never looked better.

Blizzard Entertainment announced Diablo II: Resurrected, the definitive remastering of Diablo II and its Lord of Destruction expansion—two hallmark entries in the company's genre-defining action role-playingseries.

Diablo II: Resurrected welcomes back veteran heroes and invites a new generation of players to experience the game's sinfully dark storyline, thrilling loot chase, and visceral hack-and-slash gameplay with modernized visuals that take advantage of the latest gaming hardware.

Diablo II: Resurrected takes the 2D sprite-based classic and brings it into the present with full 3D physically-based rendering, dynamic lighting, revamped animations and spell effects—all stunningly delivered in up to 4K resolution. All 27 minutes of the game's classic cinematics, chronicling the journey of the mysterious Dark Wanderer, are being remade—shot for shot—from the ground up. The nightmarish sounds of Sanctuary and its memorable soundtrack have also been reinvigorated to support Dolby 7.1 surround sound. By leveling up the game's audio and visual capabilities, Diablo II: Resurrected will showcase the depth of gameplay and hallmark designs that continue to entertain players around the world to this day.

Last weekend, Diablo II: Resurrected held its Early Access to Open Beta weekend for anyone who pre-ordered or who received a key through Twitch Drops watching their favourite streamers. As a reminder, starting on August 20th at 18:00 BST, the game will officially open up to all for the public Open Beta test. Anyone on PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS4, or PS5 will be able to freely download and play the Diablo II: Resurrected beta build over the weekend.

This will mark the first time ever that anyone can experience Diablo II on consoles and will be able to try out cross-progression between platforms. Players can team up with their friends and experience the entirety of the first two Acts as the Barbarian, Sorceress, Amazon, Druid, or Paladin. There is no level cap, so everyone can try out their favourite character builds as they level up through the content.

Starting Wednesday August 18, PC players will be able to pre-load the Open Beta via their Battle.net client.

On Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5 and PS4 players will be able to pre-load the Beta from the store page(s) across the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store.

This Open Beta is available to anyone in the public who wishes to participate on a supported platform.

The upcoming test weekends will feature two additional classes for players to experience—the ferocious, shapeshifting Druid and the righteous, hammer-slinging Paladin. They join the three iconic characters who were part of our previous alpha test—the Sorceress, the Barbarian, and the Amazon.

NEW CLASSES

DRUID

The Druids are a nomadic race who hail from the untamed lands of Scosglen. Rugged and beautiful, the home of the Druids is teeming with Werewolves and other abominations lurking within the encroaching wilderness. To survive and rule over these wilds, the Druids must forfeit their humanity to awaken the beast within.

PALADIN

Originally from the lands of the west, the Knights of the Faith, also known as Paladins, are holy warriors spread across the realms of Sanctuary. These soldiers of faith use holy magic in the war against the dark agents of Hell, wandering across the realm spreading their virtues or purging heresy. These battle-ready devotees of the light are a necessary bulwark against the forces of darkness.

Both test weekends will have multiplayer enabled, alongside cross-progression* on Windows® PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation®5 and PlayStation®4. Up to eight players can play together in one game. Besides complementary skills that help each other in battle, experience, monster hit points, and the quantity of items dropped scale upwards as more players join the session. Additionally, players can choose to duel each other or even claim a rival’s ear in PvP combat.

Lastly, like the Technical Alpha, both Act I: The Sightless Eye and Act II: The Secret of the Vizjerei will be fully playable. The fully remade Act I & II cinematics will also be viewable in the Diablo II: Resurrected Early Access and Open Beta tests.

All players who pre-purchased Diablo II: Resurrected (and currently own Diablo III) will be able to immediately unlock the Heritage of Arreat—a Diablo II-themed Barbarian transmog set that Diablo III Barbarians can wear for that classic blue warpaint look. Anyone who pre-purchased the Diablo Prime Evil Collection can also earn their Mephisto pet and equip the menacing Hatred’s Grasp wing set in Diablo III.

Throughout the Technical Alpha the community was incredible in sharing their feedback, bugs, and other insights from their experience throughout that test. Please share your impressions as we continue to polish the game while upholding the authenticity of the original game’s design. We welcome you to share your feedback on the official Diablo II forums or r/Diablo subreddit.

If you’re unable to directly participate in these tests, but want to follow the game’s development, please keep an eye on Diablo II: Resurrected livestreams across Twitch.tv and YouTube Gaming.

Xbox Live Gold is required to play during Early Access to the Open Beta and to access multiplayer features at launch on Xbox platforms. Xbox Live Gold is not required to play during the Open Beta (non-Early Access) on Xbox platforms. PlayStation® Plus is not required during Early Access or the Open Beta, but will be required to access multiplayer features at launch on PlayStation systems.

Diablo II: Resurrected will launch with seven playable classes. We are focusing our gameplay testing on five of those classes—the Amazon, Barbarian, Sorceress, Druid, and Paladin, who will be joined by the Assassin and Necromancer when the game officially launches.

Diablo II: Resurrected will launch with the full narrative experience of the game, alongside the narrative content of the expansion, Lord of Destruction. For this test, we really want to hone in on early gameplay in the settings of Acts I & II.

If you participate in the Early Access weekend, your progression from that test will carry over to the Open Beta, which kicks off on August 20.

Players will not be able to import local offline saves from the original Diablo II to Diablo II: Resurrected Early Access and Open Beta because this test is online only.

At launch, players will be able to load their local offline saves by copying the save files from the original Diablo II to Diablo II: Resurrected. The underlying game engine is exactly the same, so those local saves will work but they will need to be copied over manually.

However, local save files (whether newly created or copied from Diablo II) will be different from online save files. There are profound differences between the modern Battle.net of today and what we launched with Diablo II all those years ago. To enjoy all of the modern online features, such as friend invites and greater security, players will need to create a new online character.

While the Open Beta will not be available for the Nintendo Switch system, the Heritage of Arreat transmog for Diablo III is intended to be available as a pre-order incentive to players on Nintendo Switch when Diablo II: Resurrected launches across all platforms.

For those who would prefer a more nostalgic experience, players will be able to freely switch back-and-forth between the modern graphics and the original experience at any time with the press of a button. While Diablo II: Resurrected may look like an all-new game, Diablo II's signature gameplay and systems are completely intact, quirks and all, adding a few highly requested quality of life improvements, such as a shared stash.

Diablo II: Resurrected features even highly customizable character classes for players to choose from—the Amazon, Barbarian, Necromancer, Paladin, and Sorceress from the core game, as well as the Assassin and Druid from the included Lord of Destruction expansion. Players will be able to make each character their own by selecting skills and talent builds, crafting and socketing items, collecting complete gear sets, acquiring unique arms and armor, assembling Rune Word combinations, and much more.

Diablo II: Resurrected is an all-inclusive package containing a lifetime of adventures. It will take players to the deadly world of Sanctuary, where they will face Diablo, the Lord of Terror, and the forces of Hell through all four thrilling Acts of the original Diablo II campaign. They'll meet beloved mentor and scholar Deckard Cain, fight alongside the Archangel Tyrael, and encounter other pantheonic characters who have become an indelible part of gaming history. This edition also includes all of the content from the Lord of Destruction expansion, with the journey continuing into Act V, where players will brave the dangers of Mount Arreat before facing Baal, the eponymous Lord of Destruction.

Key Features:

• The Burning Hells opens its gates in the fall – Diablo II: Resurrected will release globally on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One on September 23, 2021.
• A classic reborn – The original 2D sprite-based models are reborn with full 3D physically-based rendering. Upgraded visuals also include new animations, dynamic lighting, new textures, and updated visual effects Explore the Sanctuary of players' nightmares, now in stunning 4K resolution.
• Relive the terror – Diablo II: Resurrected will feature all 27 minutes of cinematics from the original game that have been remade, shot-for-shot, with stunning high-fidelity visuals, immersing players deeper into the dark storyline than ever before.
• Available for pre-purchase on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One — Diablo II: Resurrected can be purchased as a standalone experience or as part of the Diablo Prime Evil Collection, which includes Diablo II: Resurrected, Diablo® III, the Reaper of Souls™ expansion, the Rise of the Necromancer pack, and exclusive cosmetic items for Diablo III.

Diablo II: Resurrected is coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC on Sept. 23, 2021 for $39.99.