Diablo II: Resurrected Won’t Include TCP/IP Support despite Blizzard’s Earlier Promises

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Image: Blizzard Entertainment

In an interview with Eurogamer earlier this year, executive producer and head of the Diablo franchise at Blizzard Entertainment, Rod Fergusson, promised old-school Diablo fans that Diablo II: Resurrected would be a highly faithful remaster that would go so far as to include older multiplayer features such as TCP/IP support for LAN play.

Unfortunately, that no longer appears to be the case.

As pointed out by numerous Diablo fans on r/pcgaming, Blizzard revealed in its FAQ on Diablo II: Resurrected’s upcoming Early Access and Open Beta periods that TCP/IP Support has officially been dropped from the game. Blizzard explained that it had “identified potential security risks” and decided to omit TCP/IP support in order to safeguard the player experience.

While the company didn’t elaborate any further than that, the popular theory is that TCP/IP was removed from Diablo II: Resurrected because it would have allowed people with pirated copies of the game to play online. This was allegedly possible with the technical alpha client that was released back in April.

For many, the lack of TCP/IP support in Diablo II: Resurrected simply means that official, dedicated Battle.net servers will be the only option for playing multiplayer online, but it could also be disappointing news for players who are interested in experimenting with certain mods.

As pointed out by Crypto2K, the loss of TCP/IP means that the only mods that can be played online with remastered graphics and features are those with dedicated servers, such as Median XL, Path of Diablo, and Project Diablo 2.

TCP/IP support will not be available in the upcoming Beta or the final game. After careful deliberation, we will no longer be supporting this option as we identified potential security risks and are committed to safeguarding the player experience.

Sources: Blizzard, Eurogamer (via r/pcgaming)

Tsing Mui
News poster at The FPS Review.

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