As Diablo 2: Resurrected’s release date approaches, Blizzard has explained its reasoning behind limiting ultrawide monitor support for its upcoming action-RPG. The decision has some very valid gameplay reasons behind it, as players using full 21:9 screens benefited from advantages that outright broke the game.
Ultrawide monitor support wasn’t a thing when the original version of the game came around, so it’s not surprising to hear that it wasn’t built with it in mind. This enabled players using 21:9 monitors to not just attack Diablo 2: Resurrected’s enemies without them reacting, but also engage more opponents at a longer range than intended.
“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,” the developer wrote in a post on its forums.
“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.”
Blizzard acknowledges that this solution is less than ideal for ultrawide monitor users and will “explore possible solutions that don’t change how the game is played” once Diablo II: Resurrected launches.
In the same post, it also explained why it decided to remove TCP/IP support. As some players already speculated, it boils down to it “enabling significant security-related issues” in the title.
Diablo II: Resurrected is slated to release on September 23 and headed to PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
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