[Update #2]: Diablo 2: Resurrected has now been unleashed, and so far it's looking pretty good!

[Update]: Diablo 2: Resurrected's very first technical Alpha began on April 9th and ran until April 12th.

Pretty much every single modern ARPG, from smaller indie games like Van Helsing to juggernauts like Path of Exile, takes a great deal of inspiration from Diablo 2. And for good reason, because even though Diablo 2 may be over twenty years old at this point, its gameplay and progression systems are still incredibly fun to mess around with.

So given Diablo 2's popularity, it really shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to hear that during their recent BlizzCon Online convention Blizzard announced a new and improved version - Diablo 2: Resurrected. The remaster will bring with it both the original game and its Lord of Destruction expansion, greatly improved visuals and support for modern resolutions, an extended stash tab alongside a shared stash to help transfer items to your other characters, and most importantly of all, cross-platform progression!

What that means is that regardless of you playing on PC, Xbox, PlayStation or Switch, you'll be able to easily transfer over your save file to any other platform and continue playing right where you left off. The one unfortunate detail is that you will need to own the game on each of the platforms in order to actually utilize the cross-progression system, but this is still a welcome addition as far as I'm concerned.

However, what I'm the most excited about is the potential for cross-platform multiplayer at some point in the future. Players will be able to compete for the top leaderboard slots regardless of platform, and Blizzard is already working on enabling cross-progression, so while cross-platform multiplayer might not be around at launch, I wouldn't discount a future patch bringing it in.

Diablo 2: Resurrected will be heading over to PC and consoles later this year, though I'm afraid no release date has been given just yet. Once that changes, or once Blizzard shares more information about their cross-platform plans, I'll make sure to let you know.

Until then, I'll leave you with the brief yet exciting original reveal, just in case you missed it. Enjoy!