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Blizzard brings Diablo's Hellfire expansion to GOG.com

By popular demand, Blizzard has teamed with GOG.com to bring back a highly-requested, third-party expansion to the original Diablo.

Ozzie Mejia

June 5, 2019 11:45 AM

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Earlier this year, Blizzard's classic library started making its way to DRM-free retailer GOG.com. Among the games that found their way there was the original Diablo. Blizzard supplied an updated version of the 1996 classic, one that includes updated compatibility with modern machines and online matchmaking via Battle.net. Now GOG.com is going a step further with the release of what was thought to be a lost expansion, Hellfire.

Hellfire was largely thought to be lost because it was never really Blizzard's expansion to re-release. It was created by Synergistic Software in 1997 and released without the Blizzard endorsement or label. However, Hellfire proved to be one of the original Diablo's most popular pieces of content and remained a highly-requested feature for the Diablo re-release. So as a gesture of good faith to the classic gaming community, Blizzard has given GOG.com the green light to re-release Hellfire as a free add-on to the original Diablo.

For the unfamiliar, Hellfire is a separate single-player campaign, one that sits outside the main game's canon. A powerful demon named Na-Krul threatens Tristram, with only Diablo's heroes to stop him. In addition to new weapons, items, missions, locations, dungeons, and enemies, Hellfire made sure to add an entirely new class. The Monk's legacy goes back a long way and while it's a standard class in modern Diablo games, it first got its start in Hellfire.

As was the case with the Diablo re-release, Blizzard and GOG.com have made a few tweaks to allow it to run on modern machines. That means high-resolution support and compatibility updates. The expansion is accessible from Diablo's main menu.

Those looking to jump into Hellfire can purchase the first Diablo from GOG.com. It's currently on sale as part of the site's Summer Sale Festival, which is set to last until June 17.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?