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 fromActivision Blizzardsince the California Department of Fair Employment and Housingfiled a lawsuit against Activision Blizzardin late July accusing it of failing to handle sexual harassment and discrimination complaints.
The remake is being developed byBlizzard’sVicarious Visionsstudio, a New York-based developer that was not implicated in the lawsuit.
However, speaking toAxois, 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, theWorld of Warcraft team started to remove references to former employeesfrom 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 femaleAmazonwarrior.
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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 Visionsis the studio behind Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, whichActivision Blizzard recently folded into Blizzard.
Last month Activision Blizzardconfirmed the departure of three more senior Blizzard employeesincludingDiablo 4game director Luis Barriga. Diablo 4 lead designer Jesse McCree andWorld of Warcraftsenior designer Jonathan LeCraft were also let go on Wednesday.
