Blizzard Drops 21:9 Ultrawide Support from Diablo II: Resurrected, Says It Was Breaking the Game

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Image: Blizzard

Diablo II: Resurrected was originally supposed to ship with support for ultrawide resolutions, allowing owners of 21:9 monitors to use their displays to the fullest. That no longer seems to be happening.

As explained by Blizzard’s PezRadar on the official Diablo II: Resurrected forums, the Diablo II remaster will no longer include traditional ultrawide support because it breaks the game. The technical alpha revealed all sorts of problems stemming from the 21:9 aspect ratio, such as players being able to pull more monsters into battle than intended and enemy AI failing to do its job.

As a result, Diablo II: Resurrected’s ultrawide support is being reduced from 21:9 to 19:9. There will be a vignette on the sides of the game screen for those on ultrawide monitors.

Ultrawide monitor support being modified was a subject we saw heavily discussed across our channels following the Beta. In the Technical Alpha, players with Ultrawide hardware saw their full 21:9 screens utilized during that test. However, during that test we identified limitations affecting those players and others. For example, the AI failed to sense the player and trigger attacks. Furthermore, players with 21:9 monitors were able to pull many more monsters into battle at a range limit beyond the original game’s intention. In a scenario where players (for example: playing a ranged class) were attacking monsters, players with 21:9 monitors could hit enemies with that extra screen space, but the monsters would not pull or react, but could still be defeated. Ultimately, the AI doesn’t register getting hit from that additional distance a 21:9 monitor provides. That’s not intended, especially if you’re sharing a game with a 16:9 user. To protect the integrity of everyone’s experience and promote an equal playing field for all, those with Ultrawide monitors will be able to have their game screen purview extended to 19:9 (the maximum length of the in-game limitation zones) with a vignette on the sides of the game screen. We recognize that players have spent a lot of money to assemble their 21:9 hardware setups and seeing black bars may be frustrating for their experience. So, we’ll continue to watch these discussions and explore possible solutions that don’t change how the game is played.

Diablo II: Resurrected will be released for the PC (Battle.net), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch platforms on September 23, 2021. That’s just a little over two weeks away.

Source: Blizzard

Tsing Mui
News poster at The FPS Review.

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