Published on

Warcraft 2 Remastered has apparently leaked, and I sure hope it's more Diablo 2 Resurrected than Warcraft 3 Reforged

Rumors of a Warcraft 2: Remastered release have surfaced, with dataminers uncovering evidence of an internal alpha and key art for the game. The announcement might be during Warcraft's 30th anniversary broadcast on November 13, but past failures with Warcraft 3: Reforged have fans apprehensive, especially with Blizzard's history with remasters.

Cover

Dataminers have uncovered evidence that Warcraft 2: Remastered is on the way, promising a fresh coat of paint on an RTS classic. But given Blizzard's up and down history with remasters in recent years - particularly when it comes to Warcraft - it's tough to know what to expect.

Warcraft fansite Wowhead has posted images of logos and key art for Warcraft 2: Remastered which appear to have originated on Blizzard's own Battle.net, tied to an "internal alpha" for the game. No other info has been uncovered, but given the timing, it's possible we'll see an official announcement during the Warcraft 30th anniversary broadcast set to run on November 13.

Blizzard previously released Warcraft 3: Reforged back in 2020. The remaster launched to a universally negative response, with players noting a raft of technical issues and its failure to measure up to years-old promotional material for the upgrade. Blizzard directly apologized for the launch shortly afterward - a process we'd see repeated in other high-profile remasters like Rockstar's GTA Trilogy.

But while the GTA Trilogy eventually redeemed itself - to an extent - with patches and updates, Warcraft 3: Reforged never managed the same, and it's still widely maligned by fans of the RTS series. Blizzard would eventually get a little taste of remaster redemption, however, with the launch of Diablo 2: Resurrected, which remains widely regarded as an excellent way to revisit the ARPG. Here's hoping that, if Warcraft 2: Remastered turns out to be real, it learns the right lessons from Blizzard's previous upgrades.

BlizzCon is canceled again, and Blizzard hasn't really explained why - but says it's coming back "in future years."