Diablo is available digitally and DRM-free for the first time

[Shawn Knight]

Something to look forward to: Diablo was the most wished for game on GOG.com's wishlist and now, it's available to purchase DRM free for the first time ever. Blizzard is also working to release more games on GOG.com including Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II.

In a surprise move, Blizzard has partnered with GOG.com to make one of its timeless classics available digitally and DRM-free for the first time ever.

In late 1996, Blizzard introduced the world to Diablo, forever altering the action role-playing genre. The title was a hit among gamers, going on to sell more than 2.5 million copies by mid-2001 and launching a franchise that remains incredibly popular to this very day.

Blizzard halted manufacturing of Diablo years ago, thus making it somewhat difficult / expensive to find a legitimate copy of the game. Fortunately, that’s no longer a concern.

Diablo is available from today on GOG.com for just $9.99. Included with your purchase is a DRM free version of the game – two versions, in fact. The first is a vanilla release of the game that only includes a scaling fix. You also get a DirectX version of the game complete with tweaks directly from GOG. According to Ars Technica, this version adds support for multiple resolutions and refresh rates, a “borderless” window option, a gamma slider, a v-sync toggle and anisoptrophic filtering / anti-aliasing options.

For those still upset over Blizzard’s lack of a Diablo IV announcement at BlizzCon, this should help calm nerves a bit.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/79080-diablo-available-digitally-drm-free-first-time.html

 

[psycros]

OK, I did NOT see this one coming. Dare we hope it means that saner voices are starting to be heard at Blizzard? And what an appropriate feather in GoG's cap!

 

[treetops]

I believe I still have my original disc somewhere, never knew it had any kind of drm for single player. Are they just talking about cd keys? There is nothing wrong with single player cd keys, that system let you resell your games. Sad and glad to hear they stopped and restarted the mnfer of this game.

 

[Nocturne]

About time

 

[lipe123]

Wow that trailer did not hold up well with the passing of time!

I wish they would do the same with Diablo 2 and give us the same new screen res options etc.

 

[Lew Zealand]

GOG FTW.

Hey Blizzard, EA, etc.! You need more goodwill to make fans of your games hate you a bit less. Try releasing more drm-free games on GOG, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than developing a new game which you seem too lazy to do, and it’ll make some people very happy.

Meh, probably makes too much sense...

 

[Squid Surprise]

I believe I still have my original disc somewhere, never knew it had any kind of drm for single player. Are they just talking about cd keys? There is nothing wrong with single player cd keys, that system let you resell your games. Sad and glad to hear they stopped and restarted the mnfer of this game.

Not just the CD Key - it had protection that wouldn't let you copy the disk (although you could download a "no cd patch").

I still have my original somewhere... Anyone know if it's still supported on Battlenet?

 

[treetops]

Not just the CD Key - it had protection that wouldn't let you copy the disk (although you could download a "no cd patch").

I still have my original somewhere... Anyone know if it's still supported on Battlenet?

According to some guy on another forum.

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/bnet/topic/20771077419

"Features an upgraded version with Windows 10 and high resolution support, as well as bugfixes and GOG multiplayer.

Battle.net multiplayer is also back if you choose to play the original low-res version.

Price is a little high in my opinion, but totally worth it considering it is my favorite game of the series.

Rejoice."

 

[amghwk]

This would have been newsworthy if Diablo 1 had been released as freeware. (Which of course, not going to happen looking back at Blizzard's tight grip on it's games.)

Can't remember of any DRM in this game, since I have made an ISO of the CD for archival purposes.

 

[treetops]

This would have been newsworthy if Diablo 1 had been released as freeware. (Which of course, not going to happen looking back at Blizzard's tight grip on it's games.)

Can't remember of any DRM in this game, since I have made an ISO of the CD for archival purposes.

It's a good thing that you did, GOG min syst requirements are odd. A game released in the windows 95 era require windows 7+ to use and 2 gigs of ram. 1 gig for the OS of course I hope they didn't change anything noticeable.

p.s. looks the same, this article has a ton of info about it
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...ale-for-10-drm-free-but-not-on-blizzards-app/

 

[GreenNova343]

This would have been newsworthy if Diablo 1 had been released as freeware. (Which of course, not going to happen looking back at Blizzard's tight grip on it's games.)

Can't remember of any DRM in this game, since I have made an ISO of the CD for archival purposes.

It's a good thing that you did, GOG min syst requirements are odd. A game released in the windows 95 era require windows 7+ to use and 2 gigs of ram. 1 gig for the OS of course I hope they didn't change anything noticeable.

p.s. looks the same, this article has a ton of info about it
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...ale-for-10-drm-free-but-not-on-blizzards-app/

It's probably to run the emulation software for it. That's the nice thing about GOG's games is that you don't have to worry about struggling with compatibility settings or figuring out how to set up DOSBox or other utilities to run the older games.

 

[Drew Valadez]

Blizzard is also working to release more games on GOG.com including Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II.

This is what I have been waiting for...

 

[misor]

9.99$ for a very old game?

 

[Capaill]

Wow that trailer did not hold up well with the passing of time!

I wish they would do the same with Diablo 2 and give us the same new screen res options etc.

Agreed. I reinstalled D2:LOD recently and tried to play it but gave up after Act IV Normal. The low res was too annoying. Still, it was nice to hear the music and watch the cinematics again, they are still good quality.

 

[amghwk]

This would have been newsworthy if Diablo 1 had been released as freeware. (Which of course, not going to happen looking back at Blizzard's tight grip on it's games.)

Can't remember of any DRM in this game, since I have made an ISO of the CD for archival purposes.

It's a good thing that you did, GOG min syst requirements are odd. A game released in the windows 95 era require windows 7+ to use and 2 gigs of ram. 1 gig for the OS of course I hope they didn't change anything noticeable.

p.s. looks the same, this article has a ton of info about it
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...ale-for-10-drm-free-but-not-on-blizzards-app/

It's probably to run the emulation software for it. That's the nice thing about GOG's games is that you don't have to worry about struggling with compatibility settings or figuring out how to set up DOSBox or other utilities to run the older games.

Diablo 1 is a Windows 9x game, not a Dos game. There is no dosbox used for this game.