In 2019, Diablo creators Erich Schaefer, Max Schaefer, and David Brevik said of Diablo 2's development that all backups of the game's source code and assets were lost, as cited by Gamespot. As quoted by Gamespot, according to Max Schaefer, it was "irretrievable and fatally corrupted."

The Schaefer's remember piecing together the game from files brought back by the developer and completing the game successfully. Erich Schaefer said, "We lost a lot of assets, art assets, and it would be very difficult for Blizzard to do a remaster of 'Diablo 2.' They would have to build them from scratch."

"They would have to make them from scratch.

That is exactly what Blizzard did for Diablo 2: Resurrected, and according to Diablo lead Rod Fergusson and principal designer Rob Gallerani, the loss of code and assets was not as bad as Schaefers not as bad as Schaefers remembers.

"I have to commend Andre Abrahamian, an amazing designer at Blizzard, for working with us," said Vicarious, developer of Tony Hawk 1+2, which recently became Blizzard's full-time support studio. Gallerani, who works at Vicarious Visions, the developer of Tony Hawk 1+2, which recently became Blizzard's full-time support studio. "We have a lot of original assets as well as a code base. If you look at the Tirael wing footage in HD, it's actually the original Tirael wing model. I think that was one of the few assets that was taken straight from the original."

According to Gallerani, there are other assets that were pulled from all kinds of sources. For example, for example, a 3D model of the Lut Gorain market booth used in a marketing still. In the original Diablo 2 they were 2D sprites, but Blizzard was able to restore the 3D files.

"Yes, data loss does happen," says Gallerani. 'I wasn't there, so I don't know exactly what things were lost. But the code is still there. I mean, this game can still be patched after all these years.

Blizzard picked up all of these materials before starting work on Diablo 2: Resurrected, but the original art assets were not really important, Fergusson said, because "every asset in the game" was rebuilt. Resurrected allows players to switch between the classic graphics as they are and the all-new 3D engine. Cut scenes have also been completely reworked.

"With the original staff that worked on [the cinematics], we have a lot of conversations around intent," Fergusson said. We asked ourselves, "If they had the tools that we have today, what would their intentions have been?"

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More than the original art assets, the code was integral to "Diablo 2: Resurrected" and thankfully it was not lost.

"When you dig into the code, there is the code of Diablo 1. There's a lot to discover and a lot of complexity. That's what gives the game its character." The idea that the old code works the way it does is what makes the game what it is today. If we were to change the engine and rework it, if it didn't have the complexity of the old code, it wouldn't feel the same. It would be an authentic experience [for the player].