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Diablo 2: Resurrected designer to unsure buyers: 'do what they feel is right'

Vicarious Visions Design Director Rob Gallerani signaled support for colleagues and co-workers at Activision Blizzard through its ongoing issues.
TJ Denzer
TJ Denzer
3

With all of the matters of harassment, toxicity, and the lawsuits encompassing these issues at Activision Blizzard, upcoming releases like Diablo 2: Resurrected are still going ahead. Acti-Blizz subsidiary Vicarious Visions is the chief developer on the project now, and it hasn’t had much implication in the overall conversation. However, that doesn’t mean the devs have washed their hands of the matters that are affecting the overall company. In a recent conversation, a Vicarious Visions lead told would-be buyers and players to “do what they feel is right.”

Vicarious Visions Design Director Rob Gallerani recently spoke to Axios Gaming ahead of Diablo 2: Resurrected’s impending release. Activision Blizzard has gone through a lawsuit from the state of California, an organized employee walkout, and even further allegations of union busting and employee intimidation. When pressed on the matter, Gallerani expressed solidarity with victims and affected co-workers.

“It was definitely very troubling to hear these types of things, and we really wanted to support our colleagues and our co-workers,” Gallerani said.

Allegations against Activision Blizzard's
Allegations against Activision Blizzard's "frat house culture" have continued to mount with additional accusations of the company destroying evidence related to the lawsuit and intimidating employees into silence.

Vicarious Visions hasn’t been explicitly mentioned or called out in much of Activision Blizzard’s ongoing issues. However, Gallerani doesn’t believe that lets Vicarious off the hook. If anything, he suggested the severity of the allegations and their implications mean the studio has an even bigger duty than ever to be vigilant and listen to employees for any sign of trouble.

“We heard a lot of really positive things, but I don't think that we ever get a pass on that,” Gallerani continued. “We always need to keep asking… A lot of those points of view weigh very heavily on us.”

Diablo 2: Resurrected is set to launch this week on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Battle.net. As we close in on release day, stay tuned here for further details and updates on the game.

Senior News Editor
Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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