Is Blizzard Remastering Its Classic Games Catalog?

[Fanghawk]

Is Blizzard Remastering Its Classic Games Catalog?

Blizzard's latest job posting suggests the publisher wants to re-release classic games like Warcraft III and Diablo II on modern systems.

Players might mock <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132998-Diablo-IIIs-Auction-House-Has-Now-Officially-Shut-Down>Blizzard's strange multiplayer features from time to time, but you can't deny it's made some impressive games. Between <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/diablo>Diablo, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/starcraft>StarCraft, and <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/161296-World-of-Warcraft-Subscriber-Number-Reports-Stop>World of Warcraft alone, this studio is responsible for some the biggest gaming franchises of all time. The thing is, Battle.net only supports Blizzard's latest titles - you'll have to take your chances with compatibility issues when playing the classics. Thankfully, that's about to change: According to a new job posting, Blizzard is seeking a software engineer who can restore games like Warcraft III, Diablo II, and the original StarCraft to modern operating systems.

"Compelling stories. Intense multiplayer. Endless replayability," the posting reads. "Qualities that made StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Diablo II the titans of their day. Evolving operating systems, hardware, and online services have made them more difficult to be experienced by their loyal followers or reaching a new generation. We're restoring them to glory, and we need your engineering talents, your passion, and your ability to get tough jobs done."

Blizzard's posting is an open call for a "Senior Software Engineer" capable of updating games for modern computers. Specific details on how these games will be updated isn't clear - Blizzard could offer anything from GOG-style rereleases to remastered games. What is clear is engineers will curate "features new and old" while improving on multiplayer capabilities, which suggests Blizzard wants classic games to become current products once again.

Whatever the case, Blizzard updating <a href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_Entertainment#Games>its fan favorites could prove an exciting venture. One of GOG.com's few weaknesses is that native multiplayer features aren't always functional a decade later. But if Blizzard can make its games playable on modern systems and offer multiplayer support through Battle.net? We could go back to playing classic Diablo and StarCraft like it's 1998. And if Blizzard decides to re-release The Lost Vikings 2 along the way, all the better.

We've reached out to Blizzard for comment, and will update this story with any new information.

Source: <a href=http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/careers/posting.html?id=15000XZ>Blizzard

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[talker]

This is the first Blizzard new in a long time to get me excited. Warcraft 3 was one of the first strategy games I ever played.

 

[Alar]

I really really, really really, REALLY REALLY hope so.

And I hope they go back all the way to WC1 and WC2 as well. It would be so worth it for remastered versions, by god. I'd buy every last one of them in Collector's Edition.

 

[Kuala BangoDango]

They should just hammer out an agreement with GoG to do it for them and let GoG then sell the games on their site too.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I really really, really really, REALLY REALLY hope so.

And I hope they go back all the way to WC1 and WC2 as well. It would be so worth it for remastered versions, by god. I'd buy every last one of them in Collector's Edition.

I second this. I'd love to see an updated WC1 and 2. Hell I'd even be happy if they remade them in WC3's engine.

 

[Synigma]

What if... and follow me on this one... what if this is the first step to bring the old Warcraft 3 back into the limelight, after so many years of WoW, so they can announce Warcraft 4 and not have people get it confused with some kind of WoW expansion? Might even tie it in with the movie release or as sequel bait assuming (WHEN) the movie does good.

The Diablo / Starcraft restores are there as one part smoke-screen and one part why the hell not.

 

[Outcast107]

Would love to see this happen. Kindof hope if they remake Diablo 2 they bring it to console as well. Though if not, thats fine.

 

[Willinium]

. . . If they decided to release/remake the original Starcraft( and Expansions), and Warcraft 3 ( and its expansions) in the Starcraft 2 engine i'd say that it'd be a guaranteed purchase.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I would buy them, if they weren't as multiplayer dependent as the article suggests they might be.

 

[RicoADF]

I would assume its some sort of remaster as my copies of WC3, Starcraft etc all run on Windows 7 fine.

 

[Nailzzz]

This is the first intelligent thing I have heard of Blizzard doing in the last decade. It would be great to see Blizzard release games from back when they still had talented employees.

 

[praetor_alpha]

I'd probably bite. Last I checked StarCraft and Diablo 2 worked fine on Windows 7, but I also have a working Pentium 2 system decked out like the 90s. I'm using it to (partially) marathon all the StarCrafts before next Tuesday.

 

[MonsterCrit]

Wait did Warcraft 3 stop working on modern systems? Huh weird. I can still play Diablo 2 and Warcaft 3 no problem.

 

[Ticklefist]

I can play everything from Warcraft II Battle.net Edition on up on Windows 10. Win 7's Aero made things a bit iffy for a while but those times are behind us.

 

[Kameburger]

I would certainly be into taking a crack at warcracft 3 again I loved that game. Diablo 2 as well.

Players might mock <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132998-Diablo-IIIs-Auction-House-Has-Now-Officially-Shut-Down>Blizzard's strange multiplayer features from time to time, but you can't deny it's made some impressive games.

See my only problem with this statement is that the auction house in Diablo 3 was literally a cynical cash grab to try and simulate yet simultaneously take advantage of Diablo 2's online economy. That wasn't just a strange little multiplayer feature, it was a game breaking add on that ruined the experience for players. Blizzard used to be really well known for committing to quality almost to a point of ridiculousness. They canceled big budget titles because it wasn't living up to a standard that they had set for their products. They way Diablo 3 shipped as a broken mess, that was designed around cynical cash grabbing features. In many ways those features were indicative of a major cultural shift for Blizzard away from a company that was always putting the integrity of its product above all else, to the cynical monster everyone thought they would become when they merged with Activision.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

If they do update WarCraft III, it better come with a World Editor. One that's even easier to use then the original.

If that happens, I'd buy WarCraft III HD immediately. Especially if it came out on Steam.

 

[Strazdas]

Starcraft demo was the game that made me a PC gamer. if done right this may be one of the best things next year. ah, who am i kidding, they are not going to do it right.

 

[Nazulu]

No! Blizzard North came up with all those great classics, Blizzard South are the fucking pathetic sell-out morons who were just given these gold titles and screwed them into the ground. Seriously, it's like if all the band members of Led Zeppelin quit and they replaced them all with milkers and expected us to still call them Led Zeppelin.

Anyway, I thought they already updated them to modern systems. The versions you can download of their site seems to work with later Windows, unless they're talking about Windows 10 because it's new and painful.

 

[Joccaren]

If they do update WarCraft III, it better come with a World Editor. One that's even easier to use then the original.

If that happens, I'd buy WarCraft III HD immediately. Especially if it came out on Steam.

Honestly, you can't get much easier to use than the original WC3 editor. Literally click and drop for almost anything, even coding wash GUI based [Unless you wanted advanced stuff, which was JASS only]. Its SC2 that kinda fucked that up, and made things a little too in-depth to do the basics that nobody really wanted expanded, meaning you couldn't do shit on the more advanced things 'cause you couldn't get your new unit to even animate -.-

But yes, it must come with an updated World Editor. Preferably that has things like higher entity limits, larger maps, and expanded GUI coding [As seen in things such as the JASS Newgen mapping system fan made for WC3]. It was that map making system that made Warcraft III, and why up until SC2s release [And TBH, probably even after], it still hard a large, dedicated fanbase of players, most of whom didn't play the skirmish maps.

 

[Zulnam]

GIVE ME WARCRAFT 2 NOW!


Oh wait, I always keep an ISO copy of the original CD on my drive. Phew.

Still, would be nice to have a remastered version.