Blizzard is busy doing a lot of projects including the remastering of classic games, such as Warcraft III and Diablo II. The latter is still in the middle of development, but this didn’t stop some modders from getting into the action.
According to an article, a Belgian Programmer by the name of Ferib Hellscream created a tool that will allow some people to play the alpha version of Diablo II: Resurrected offline.
His tool known as the “D2ROffline” bypasses integrity checks and other security measures that developers may have put in place, while also ensuring that the client won’t download any patches whatsoever that may inhibit people from playing the game.
Because his tool was unofficially reproduced and sold for money, the programmer decided to make it available to the public as an open-source project. And, since it has gained massive traction, Blizzard sniffed the situation.
How the Tool Came to Be
In an archived post, Ferib explained how his tool came into existence. He originally made a program that bypassed crc32 checks that were used in Warcraft III: Reforged.
After receiving messages from people on Reddit asking if he can do the same thing for Diablo II: Resurrected, he went and checked it out. Out of curiosity, he did some digging into the game’s files, and long story short, he was able to do exactly that .
He successfully bypassed the anti-cheat measures and, therefore, could play the unofficial version of the game offline.
Ferib’s work paved the way for other modders to do the same thing. Modder Shalzuth created his own tool called “D2RModding.” Aside from allowing people to play the unofficial alpha of Diablo II: Resurrected, his program enables further customization of the game.
Blizzard Crackdown
As you can tell, the company is not happy with the modding on its original IPs. In a statement, Shalzuth said that a private investigator went to his house and served him a cease-and-desist order.
Although he was calm during the entire process, he knew that Blizzard is not joking when it comes to cracking down modders such as himself.
Both Ferib and Shalzuth knew that their actions have consequences and they said that they’re not going to push through with their respective modding tools moving forward. To avoid getting penalized, they are willing to comply with what the company wants.
What do you think of Blizzard’s move to halt any Diablo II: Resurrected modders or hackers?
