Blizzard studio says consumers should ‘do what they feel is right’ when considering Diablo 2 remake
Next week’s remake will be Activision Blizzard’s first release since a discrimination lawsuit
The developers behind Diablo II’s upcoming remake have said consumers should “do what they feel is right,” when considering whether to buy the game next week.
Diablo II: Resurrected, which releases on September 23, is the first game from Activision Blizzard since the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in late July accusing it of failing to handle sexual harassment and discrimination complaints.
The remake is being developed by Blizzard’s Vicarious Visions studio, a New York-based developer that was not implicated in the lawsuit.
However, speaking to Axois, the studio’s design director Rob Gallerani said that the allegations had still caused it to review its processes and ask its own employees how it could improve its work culture.
“It was definitely very troubling to hear these types of things,” he said on the misconduct allegations. “And we really wanted to support our colleagues and our co-workers.
“We heard a lot of really positive things[in our internal review], but I don’t think that we ever get a pass on that. We always need to keep asking.”
The controversy also led to the developer scanning the original content of Diablo II for any references that could be deemed problematic, but Gallerani said the check found nothing.
In July, the World of Warcraft team started to remove references to former employees from the MMO, after one ex-designer who had characters and items named after him was named in the sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit.
Diablo II: Resurrected’s Gallerani told Axois that the remake’s changes include a redesign for its female Amazon warrior.
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World of Warcraft purges references to a designer named in the sexual harassment lawsuit
He said her revamp was primarily intended to make all the characters look more like warriors, rather than people who “rolled out of a nightclub.”
Vicarious Visions is the studio behind Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, which Activision Blizzard recently folded into Blizzard.
Last month Activision Blizzard confirmed the departure of three more senior Blizzard employees including Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga. Diablo 4 lead designer Jesse McCree and World of Warcraft senior designer Jonathan LeCraft were also let go on Wednesday.
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