A Diablo 2 spin-off was originally planned by Blizzard for handhelds, says author David Craddock. Titled Diablo Junior (d'aww!), the game would be developed by Blizzard North for either the Game Boy Color or the Game Boy Advance. Obviously, the game never came to fruition, but it's certainly interesting to think about.
"Following Diablo 2's release, Blizzard North split into two teams … kind of," says Craddock. "One team immediately started in on D2's expansion set, Lord of Destruction. The other team went into spitball mode, kicking around ideas for a new IP. But several other developers ventured into groups of two or three and put together proposals for smaller projects. One of those was given the working title Diablo Junior, a game tentatively planned for the Game Boy Color and/or the Game Boy Advance, depending on market share and other business-y factors."
Had Diablo Junior actually become a thing, it would've likely been a single-player prequel intended to give fans of the series a bit of backstory. According to Craddock, the game would take a page out of Pokemon's book and come in three different cartridges. Each version of the game would star a different hero and include different items that could be traded among Diablo Junior players who owned different carts. Ultimately, the game never saw the light of day and was but a mere concept due to the high cost of producing handheld titles at the time.
In addition to Diablo Junior, Blizzard was also thinking of releasing an expansion to the main game following Lord of Destruction. Said add-on would've focused heavily on the game's multiplayer features, adding banks and customizable guild halls among other things.
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