Quote Originally Posted by Sin View Post
Not sure if you got all your information right. The head guys over at Blizzard North left years ago and went to Flagship Studios which created a terrible game called Hellgate:London (diablo-esque 3PS/FPS). Most people haven't even heard of that garbage ass game. lol I think someone picked up the license and is making it F2P idk.

Anyways... once Flaship pooped out, they started Runic which made Torchlight, which was an awesome single-player action-rpg. Basically a rip-off of D2 with a different story, and there was only one town. They stole their entire soundtrack from D2 though, which brought a bit of nostalgia, and now whenever I hear the music in D3, I think back to Torchlight... Lol

That being said, both Torchlight and Torchlight 2 are worth the buy. Torchlight 2 is only $20 c'moooon you can't beat that for the same experience from D2, but with a different story and WoW-ish artstyle.
1. Diablo 3 development began in 2001.

2. A mass exodus of employees left Blizzard North in 2003 and reformed in a development company called Flagship Studios which developed Hellgate: London.

3. In 2005, Blizzard North was closed by Vivendi (their corporate masters).

4. In 2008, Runic Games studio is created by former Diablo franchise designers and invited a host of talent from Flagship Studios when it dissolved that same year.


Before the year 2005, former Blizzard North staffers (or a trickster) had leaked teaser videos and various other media possibly relating to the early development of a game that might possibly have been Diablo 3. Sadly, the disappearance of the whole original staff makes for a fitting reason as to why the game is not what anyone expected and lacks the insight to garner the fervor of rabid online gamers. All in the name of Capitalism, such havoc was wrought from a corporate schism.

Interesting link (although some of it might be untrue):
http://www.diablowiki.net/Diablo_3_History