Blizzard Responds to Diablo 2 Resurrected Server Issues

Diablo 2 Resurrected has been experiencing server issues since its launch, as previously reported.

Now, Blizzard has shared a detailed blog post to explain the reasons and the steps they are taking to address the problem.

“Our server outages have not been caused by a single issue; we are addressing each problem as it arises, with both short-term fixes and long-term architectural changes,” the post reads.

“A small number of players have experienced character progression loss – going forward, any loss due to a server crash should be limited to a few minutes. This is not a complete solution for us, and we are continuing to work on this issue. Our team, with the help of others at Blizzard, is committed to bringing the game experience to a point where everyone is satisfied.”

The post goes on to explain how the game servers work, with connections between regional servers and a larger global server. Due to factors such as saving too frequently to the global servers and the increasing number of concurrent players, the servers have struggled to cope.

Interestingly, the remaster uses a lot of legacy code from the original. “This service, with some upgrades from the original, handles critical aspects of game functionality, such as game creation/joining, updating/reading/filtering game lists, verifying game server health, and reading characters from the database to ensure your character can participate in whatever it is you’re filtering for,” the post explains.

It seems that this legacy code cannot keep up with modern standards, as player behavior has changed since the early 2000s. This includes repeatedly creating new games to farm items, which can overload the servers.

Blizzard is therefore working on three major fixes.

First, the team is limiting the number of operations to the database related to creating and joining games, although this is only a short-term measure.

Secondly, a login queue has been implemented to maintain a manageable level of players across servers. As fixes are made, the population cap will increase.

Finally, critical pieces of functionality are being broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks of work.

“This game means a lot to all of us,” the post reads. “Many of us on the team are long-time D2 players – we played during its original launch in 2000, some are part of the modding community, and so on. We can assure you that we will keep working until the game experience feels right not only for us as developers, but also for players and members of the community.”

You can read the full blog post here. In our Diablo 2 Resurrected review, we described it as a “faithful revival of an uncompromising classic”.