Blizzard Releases Original Diablo On GOG.com Not Battle.net – Update

Blizzard Entertainment released the original Diablo from late 1996 through the website GOG.com. This website was previously known as Good Old Games. It is striking that Blizzard does not release the title on its own platform Battle.net.

The Diablo offered on GOG.com actually includes two versions. First of all, it is an almost identical version of the original, with the accompanying svga graphics at twenty frames per second. This includes a matchmaking system through the classic version of the Battle.net service.

The other version is an updated version of the original Diablo, including Windows 10 compatibility, a range of bug fixes, and support for modern resolutions and framerates. This GOG version cannot connect to Battle.net, so multiplayer with this version is only possible via lan or a p2p connection.

Players can choose both versions via a launcher, which are included in the purchase price of almost 9 euros. Since the title is offered on GOG.com, drm. That means no activation is required and no internet connection is required to play.

It’s not clear why Blizzard chose to make Diablo available through GOG.com and not through its own platform, especially since classic games like Starcraft and Diablo II can be found on Battle.net. The Warcraft III remake, called Warcraft III: Reforged, will also be released on Battle.net before the end of this year.

Blizzard is going to release more of its own titles on GOG.com. This concerns, for example, Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft 2, the company reports. For now, Blizzard says it has no plans to make Diablo: Hellfire available via GOG.com.

Update, 4:53 PM: Blizzard informed Ars Technica that Diablo was deliberately not released via Battle.net, because the game does not contain the “modern infrastructure” required for the platform. That explains the choice for GOG.com.