Diablo 2 Remaster

It's been 25 years since Diablo II came out. Let that sink in. A game so many of us grew up playing, trading, runnung bosses, and arguing over who picked up what, is now officially old enough to rent a car. But what if I told you one of the most important parts of the game was never part of the original plan?

To celebrate the anniversary, Path of Exile's Chris Wilson sat down with David Brevik, the original creator and lead programmer of Diablo. It's a really great chat, full of behind-the-scenes stories from the early days at Blizzard North. One part in particular stood out: multiplayer wasn't even a thing until the very end of Diablo's development.

According to Brevik, the team was focused almost entirely on building a solid single-player game. Blizzard South had mentioned early on that they wanted it to have multiplayer, and the team at Blizzard North basically said, “Yeah, sure.” But as development went on, they just… didn't do it. They didn't even know how to make a multiplayer game at that point.

Eventually, Blizzard South checked in and asked how the online stuff was going. Brevik and his team had to admit they hadn't touched it. So Blizzard sent a few engineers up to help. They walked the team through the basics, such as networking, peer-to-peer connections, and everything needed to get the game online.

Battle.net was also being developed around this time, and they only had a few months left before launch. There wasn't time to build a full client-server system, so they went with peer-to-peer. Not ideal, but it worked. And more importantly, it planted the seed for what would become the heart of Diablo II.

Once they got multiplayer running, the whole vibe of the game shifted. Suddenly, it wasn't just about slaying demons alone in a dark dungeon; it was about doing it with friends. And with that shift came new design ideas. Paladins were given auras that helped the team. Diablo Items became more competitive. Office debates broke out over who should get the loot first. That kind of chaos helped shape what Diablo II eventually became.

Looking back, it's kind of wild to imagine Diablo without multiplayer. For so many people, that's what made it unforgettable:  teaming up, trading gear, and figuring out how to survive Nightmare mode together. Without that late push, we might've ended up with a great game, sure. But probably not one that defined a genre.

Now, a quarter-century later, the influence of that decision is still being felt. Games like Path of Exile, Diablo IV, and tons of indie ARPGs all carry bits and pieces of Diablo II's DNA. And it all goes back to a last-minute decision, some networking code, and a team willing to learn something completely new right at the finish line.

Next time you load up Diablo II, whether it's the original or the Resurrected version, take a second to appreciate just how close we were to playing it solo forever.