Warcraft III: Reforged

The game received mixed reviews from critics and an overwhelmingly negative reception from players for its changes from the original, the lack of many announced features and technical issues. Reforged retains the gameplay of the original, but its development has spurred on further balance changes to the game's multiplayer. Players from the original client are able to access and play with Reforged players by being given access to the new client . Users can unlock profile icons based on per-race ratings. The campaign's missions were visually updated to reflect World of Warcraft, however, the map of Azeroth and heroes' appearances were still kept closer to the original WarCraft III concepts than to those appearing in WoW. The "hard mode" setting prevents the player from using cheat codes. WarCraft III: Reforged has the same plot as the original game, but possesses minor visual and stylistic changes. Blizzard intended, along with a desire from the player base, to develop StarCraft: Remastered as a generally pure remake. Producer Pete Stillwell said that "When we went to Korea and talked with pros and people still playing in game rooms, the overwhelming feedback was 'Please don't change the game,'" Stillwell said. "'Make it pretty, give us a modern matchmaker and then quietly step away, Blizzard.' Getting those marching orders made the endeavor not just easier but more focused. But with Warcraft 3: Reforged, we've talked with the communities in Europe and in China , 'Hey, we don't think this game is done' -- The goal is not just to give Warcraft III a new coat of paint, but "do more with it." Lemon Sky Studios partnered with Blizzard to provide most of the remastered 3D art assets. According to Jason Schreier of Bloomberg News, the remaster had problems from the start in 2017. While the team behind the remaster had a grand scope for what they wanted to bring, the Activision management did not see much value in the remaster over new games, and pressure was placed on Blizzard to focus on these newer games. The Classic Games team at Blizzard, behind the development of the remaster, was never given the necessary budget to complete their scope. Further, with the February 2019 layoffs across Activision Blizzard, many of the staff on the Classic Games team were affected, and the change of management within the team greatly impacted the production rates. There also were issues with the management style of Rob Bridenbecker, the manager of the Classic Games group, that further impacted how the team functioned. Other games at development within Blizzard were canceled in favor of titles like Overwatch, but because they had already started taking pre-orders for the remaster, the project could not be easily canceled.