Former Diablo developer, David Brevik, has revealed on Twitter that Diablo 2 almost got an MMO-style expansion. The unreleased second expansion for Diablo 2 may never have seen production, but its design looked eerily similar to an MMO.
David Brevik, co-founder and President of Blizzard North, took to Twitter on Valentine’s Day to reveal that not only was there a second expansion planned for Diablo 2, but that it could have been an MMO. Not an MMO in the World of Warcraft style, but more like Diablo choc-a-block full of players!
Yes, sort of... it was only designed, never produced. I had a multi-page design doc going over new classes, new areas, new mechanics and story concepts. That's as far as it got. https://t.co/l8xHYOF6z5
— David Brevik (@davidbrevik) February 13, 2021
The plans look pretty cool, to be honest, and suggests that, perhaps the Diablo Universe, and the gameplay style, could work in an MMO-style game! Now, if that idea doesn’t get you moist, then not even Jabba-The-Hut will!
“I would have been very different from any Diablo. I think it was really interesting. We used a lot of the game-structure concepts for Marvel Heroes. [It] was an APRG+MMO. MMO in terms of many people playing at once, not like WoW. It was scrapped because most of BlizNo left.”
Wow! Shortly before he left the company, Brevik worked on some super cool ideas, it seems. Diablo 2 was an absolute classic, with many fans strongly believing it the superior game to its more recent sequel.
I would have been very different from any Diablo. I think it was really interesting. We used a lot of the game-structure concepts for Marvel Heroes. I was an APRG+MMO. MMO in terms of many people playing at once, not like WoW. It was scrapped because most of BlizNo left. https://t.co/dkKddyUlYs
— David Brevik (@davidbrevik) February 14, 2021
The development house may have closed in 2005, and Diablo 3 may have been a great game, but it is hard not to fantasize about what could have been. Seriously: a Diablo you can play not only with friends – you already can – but as part of a massive crowd of players, all engaging in the world? That would have been awesome!
Eurogamer has even reported that a book by author David Craddock, expanded on this second expansion when it was published in 2012! In ‘Stay Awhile and Listen: Book 2’, Craddock explores the possible multiplayer features that may have come to Diablo 2, had the expansion gone ahead.
Speaking about a feature he terms ‘Guildhall’, he paints a picture of a game where players could meet up in their Guildhalls and run through quests together. There would have been an unlock system for new rooms and features within a guild’s headquarters, and a ‘Stieg Stone’ where players could deposit their in-game cash!
All of this craziness, awesomeness, and curiosity, leads to one obvious question: BUT WHAT ABOUT DIABLO IV? Well, we might just leave you with this Tweet (insert evil laugh here)…
https://t.co/gEZ67IrMuu pic.twitter.com/Pfw548QXra
— David Brevik (@davidbrevik) February 14, 2021
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