Diablo 2: Resurrected beta is free to play for all this weekend

Diablo 2
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Diablo 2: Resurrected, the remastered take on Blizzard's classic action-RPG game, is getting an open beta this weekend that anyone can take part in.

Activision Blizzard lawsuit

Publisher Activision Blizzard, responsible for the game this article refers to, is currently embroiled in ongoing litigation in regards to claims reporting a workplace culture that allegedly enabled acts of sexual harassment, abuse and discrimination. Read our Activision Blizzard lawsuit timeline of events for ongoing coverage of the events.

Kicking off on August 20 and running until the end of that weekend, anyone on PC, Xbox Series X or Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5 can download the beta and play through the latest build of the dungeon crawler.

It's quite a generous beta too – the first two acts of the game are open to play, as are the Barbarian, Sorceress, Amazon, Druid and Paladin classes, with no level cap restrictions meaning you can grind to your hearts content – even if your character won't carry over to the retail build of the game.

The beta will also act as a stress test for the game's cross-progression system. While PlayStation, Xbox and PC players can't play together, those with a copy of the game on multiple platforms can bring a character over from one device to another and play with their level, items and progression intact.

We were lucky enough to get early access to the beta over the past weekend, and remain impressed with the care that's gone into the remaster. The 4K visuals are crisp (and the easy-access to the original graphics a nice easter egg), while quality of life improvements such as stash size, controller support and UI enhancements are well implemented. 

We did notice some performance issues – an odd motion blur effect would occur during busy scenes, for instance – but we're hoping these will be tidied up ahead of the games full release.

Keep an eye out for our full Diablo 2: Resurrected review ahead of the game's full release on September 23.

Gerald Lynch

Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site's home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don't expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press.