TCW Podcast Episode 220 - Diablo 2

We continue exploring the Diablo franchise with Diablo 2 and the journey of the team at Blizzard North. This episode covers the history of the Hellfire expansion for Diablo 1 and how it came to be developed by Sierra Online. A directive was issued for Blizzard North to focus on creating Diablo 2. The team aimed not just to create a bigger dungeon but to expand the game’s overall scope. However, the development of Diablo 2 faced challenges like feature creep, excessive gaming, and the absence of a game design document. These issues led to a year and a half of crunch time to complete the game. Despite these difficulties, Diablo 2 was released to phenomenal success.

Hellfire Monk Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJlxnFfxRM4

David Brevik on Diablo Hellfire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4bDFgcuH-I

Warcraft Adventures - Lord of the Clans (Lets Play): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7JZu__7KTs

Thor - Overworked % Amazon Game Studios: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IVdaysrIS74

Thor - Blizzard Working Conditions: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/B2mqnuRalYA

Thor - Blizzard Pay: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a8aumvAq5gM

Thor - Value vs Income from a Job: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8s3wa5kL6RY

TCW 054 - Blizzard - Vikings and WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-vikings-and-warcraft/

TCW 055 - Blizzard - Hellfire and The World… of WarCraft: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/blizzard-hellfire-and-the-world%E2%80%A6-of-warcraft/

Diablo II from 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_MoFDWJees

Diablo II LOD Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM7gA_xD7vE

Original StarCraft Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAXDv--grUE

Diablo II TV Commercial (Its Everywhere): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBp9ECiodc

Diablo II TV Commercial (Evil Has Survived): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RvRK5qf6Lc

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/