Blizzard is working on 'character lockouts' bug in Diablo 2: Resurrected

This is actually Baal, the Lord of Destruction, from the Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction expansion
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Yesterday's launch of Diablo 2: Resurrected was not the smoothest rollout ever. Shortly after it went live, reports of disappearing characters began rolling in. Blizzard took the game offline for a spot of "unscheduled maintenance," and a couple hours later it appeared that everything was sorted.

Not quite, as it turns out. In an update posted today, Blizzard said that it intends to release a permanent fix for the bug on PC today and "shortly thereafter" for consoles. In the meantime, it recommended that players use different names for online and offline characters, as using the same name for both "is related to this bug."

"Furthermore, our team is working to resolve the issue of character lockouts," Diablo 2 community manager Hooley explained. "Many of these characters are already in the process of being unlocked. We anticipate this process will take a few hours to complete."

"For players unable to create or join game lobbies, we’ve been evaluating activities that have prevented them from being able to play in those sessions. We’re actively working to find a solution to these issues."

Blizzard is also working on crash bugs and an AVX issue that's preventing players from starting Diablo 2: Resurrected, and is "observing" various other issues and bugs. An update on that front will be shared once the bigger issues above are taken care of.

If you're new to Diablo 2 and not struggling with any of the above issues, we can help get you off to a strong start: We've got an in-depth guide to all the Resurrected classes, another on identifying items, and a third explaining what that "gem activated" business means.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.