Blizzard Entertainment and GOG.com Bring Back the Original Diablo - News
by Evan Norris , posted on 07 March 2019 / 4,853 Views
Blizzard Entertainment and GOG.COM have teamed up to re-release select classic Blizzard games, beginning with Diablo, Blizzard’s legendary 1996 action role-playing game that introduced players to the harsh—and deeply rewarding—world of Sanctuary.
The original Diablo is available now via digital distribution for the first time ever on GOG.COM. Players looking for the authentic Diablo experience can play the game as it was in 1996, with period-appropriate 20 FPS SVGA graphics, and the ability to matchmake through the classic version of Blizzard’s Battle.net online-gaming service. Blizzard and GOG.COM have collaborated on an updated version of the game, which includes out-of-the-box Windows 10 compatibility, and a host of bug fixes. Players can choose either version of the game from a launcher.
"We were bummed that these iconic games weren't available to our players, so we‘re very happy to work with the crew at GOG.com to rectify that," said Rob Bridenbecker, Vice President and Executive Producer, Blizzard Entertainment. "This has been a long time coming and we hope our players will be excited to jump back into these classic titles."
In addition to bringing back the first Diablo, Blizzard is planning other GOG.COM re-releases of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II. More information on the return to Azeroth will be revealed soon.
"Crawling through the original Diablo's dungeons, together with Blizzard, is a feeling of pure excitement," said Oleg Klapovsky, SVP at GOG. "It's a personal thing for many of us, and the most wished-for game in our community. Taking the first few steps beneath the Tristram Cathedral, listening to the guidance of Cain the Elder—it's all coming back, for old souls and newcomers alike."
Diablo is available now via GOG.COM for Windows for $9.99.
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That's awesome but I'm wondering why didn't Blizzard just release them on their website? You can still get Diablo II, Warcraft III, even The Lost Vikings on Blizzard's website under the "Classic Games" section
Blizzard was part of Sierra at the time, maybe they don't own all the publishing rights to the first one?
I think I'm picking this up.
Ahhh, fresh Meat!
These games are already available via the Blizzard store. Not sure why this is big news since if you already have a PC you can play it right now.
Correction D2 is on Battle.net not D1. Strange they didnt opt to use there own platform. In saying that you can still buy D1 on disk and it works with Win10.
GOG tends to be DRM free.
What DRM are people hating Battle.net for? Just curious.
There are those who don't have any desire to have 1,000 game clients installed. :P
Ahh fair enough. Its a shame because Battle.net is a must have in my eyes considering it houses some of the very best PC games, not many but quality over quantity in my book. Each to there own.
Now if they could do this with SC Remastered, D2 and Lost Vikings, I can die happy.
All those games are available on Battle. Net via the Classic store front.
Oh, nice thing.
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