In a surprising move, a Diablo GOG version has been announced by the DRM-free digital game distributor. Blizzard Entertainment and GOG are teaming up to rerelease a selection of classic Blizzard titles beginning with the first game in the saga of a war between heaven and hell. This marks the first time that a digital version of Diablo is available for purchase anywhere. The two companies have collaborated to make a version that runs on Windows 10 and features a number of bug fixes. A simpler “classic” version is optionally available for people who want the original experience.
Diablo tells the tale of an adventurer heading to the town of Tristram which is having more than its fair share of troubles. Something freaky is going on in the local church and you’ll have to head down into the depths, ultimately making your way into Hell itself and confronting the Lord of Terror. Players can select from either a Warrior, Sorcerer, or Rogue class, and build their skills out to make several different builds. Canonically, each of the game’s three heroes meet unfortunate fates and are encountered in the sequel Diablo II as shadows of their former selves.
The Diablo GOG version likely leverages GOG’s experience at bringing older games to modern systems. What isn’t entirely clear, however, is why exactly this isn’t being sold on Blizzard Battle.net. Whatever the reason may be, we can expect to see more of Blizzard’s back catalog end up on GOG in the future. The first two Warcraft games were confirmed in a blog post by Blizzard. Personally, I’m looking forward to buying Diablo II once again.
You can now buy Diablo on GOG DRM-free for $9.99 or your regional equivalent. This is the first of many games that will be released as part of this GOG/Blizzard partnership. In the meantime, why not go on a little nostalgia trip and check out the Diablo GOG trailer?
