Diablo II: 6 Open Source Clones Compared
OpenDiablo2 (now marked dead) explicitly states in its own readme that it's being split into a separate engine/toolset project called Abyss Engine, which is itself one of the other clones listed here — a clean-room C rewrite that its authors state involved no reverse engineering, and which deliberately breaks compatibility with the original's save files and multiplayer. DGEngine takes a different scope: it's built primarily as a Diablo 1 engine that can also run Hellfire, Diablo II (via an external StormLib library), and the fan game Diablo Flare, rather than being Diablo II-specific. OpenD2, by contrast, keeps the original's save-file format and reuses the original game files directly, but its authors chose to omit Battle.net support and BINK-format cinematics for legal reasons, and most of its gameplay code is still unwritten. Diablerie and Riiablo are both early-stage, from-scratch rebuilds (Unity/C# and libGDX respectively) that each need a specific original installation to supply assets.
Comparison table
Availability
- Status
- Semi-playable
- Platforms
- None
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Archived
- Last updated
- 5y ago
- Stars
- 11,089
- Contributors
- 77
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Engine
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesRequires legally purchased copies of Diablo 2 and its expansion Lord of Destruction installed on the computer.
- Modding support
- YesDesigned as an ARPG game engine supporting custom content and mods.
- Multiplayer
- Online
Availability
- Status
- Semi-playable
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 4y ago
- Stars
- 1,235
- Contributors
- 7
- License
- MIT
- Engine
- Unity
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesRequires original Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction v1.14 MPQ files (d2exp.mpq, d2data.mpq, d2char.mpq, and optional audio files).
- Modding support
- YesProject explicitly states one of its goals is to support modding, with good separation between engine and game.
- Multiplayer
- —
Availability
- Status
- Semi-playable
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux, OSX, Android
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- Android
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 2y ago
- Stars
- 1,100
- Contributors
- 2
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Engine
- libGDX
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- Yes100% original Diablo II assets are required; the game uses assets from an existing copy of Diablo II.
- Modding support
- —
- Multiplayer
- Online
Availability
- Status
- Unplayable
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 5y ago
- Stars
- 602
- Contributors
- 8
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Engine
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesRequires original Diablo 2 game files and uses the original game's save files.
- Modding support
- YesDesigned as a base for building mods with easier modding than the original through reverse-engineered code.
- Multiplayer
- Online
Availability
- Status
- Unplayable
- Platforms
- Linux, Windows, OSX
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 2y ago
- Stars
- 291
- Contributors
- 1
- License
- MIT
- Engine
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesRequires original Diablo 2 and LOD MPQ files to run.
- Modding support
- —
- Multiplayer
- —
Availability
- Status
- Semi-playable
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux
- Play in browser
- No
- Mobile
- No
Project health
- Development status
- Halted
- Last updated
- 1y ago
- Stars
- 271
- Contributors
- 3
- License
- —
- Engine
- —
Compatibility
- Requires original assets
- YesRequires original game files (DIABDAT.MPQ for Diablo, additional MPQ files for Hellfire and Diablo 2).
- Modding support
- —
- Multiplayer
- —
| Title | OpenDiablo2 | Diablerie | Riiablo | OpenD2 | Abyss Engine | DGEngine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Semi-playable | Semi-playable | Semi-playable | Unplayable | Unplayable | Semi-playable |
| Platforms | None | Windows, Linux | Windows, Linux, OSX, Android | Windows, Linux | Linux, Windows, OSX | Windows, Linux |
| Play in browser | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Mobile | No | No | Android | No | No | No |
| Project health | ||||||
| Development status | Archived | Halted | Halted | Halted | Halted | Halted |
| Last updated | 5y ago | 4y ago | 2y ago | 5y ago | 2y ago | 1y ago |
| Stars | 11,089 | 1,235 | 1,100 | 602 | 291 | 271 |
| Contributors | 77 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 3 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 | MIT | — |
| Engine | — | Unity | libGDX | — | — | — |
| Compatibility | ||||||
| Requires original assets | YesRequires legally purchased copies of Diablo 2 and its expansion Lord of Destruction installed on the computer. | YesRequires original Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction v1.14 MPQ files (d2exp.mpq, d2data.mpq, d2char.mpq, and optional audio files). | Yes100% original Diablo II assets are required; the game uses assets from an existing copy of Diablo II. | YesRequires original Diablo 2 game files and uses the original game's save files. | YesRequires original Diablo 2 and LOD MPQ files to run. | YesRequires original game files (DIABDAT.MPQ for Diablo, additional MPQ files for Hellfire and Diablo 2). |
| Modding support | YesDesigned as an ARPG game engine supporting custom content and mods. | YesProject explicitly states one of its goals is to support modding, with good separation between engine and game. | — | YesDesigned as a base for building mods with easier modding than the original through reverse-engineered code. | — | — |
| Multiplayer | Online | — | Online | Online | — | — |
| Preview | | | | | |
Known limitations
- feature: The project does not ship with the assets or content required to play Diablo 2.
- general: Game is at a very early stage of development and is work in progress.
- gameplay: Game is not yet fully playable; core functionality is present but the game is still in development.
- feature: Does not support Open or Closed Battle.net to minimize legal issues.
- feature: Cinematics are not supported due to use of proprietary BINK format.
- gameplay: The majority of gamecode is still being written; game will stall on loading when connecting to TCP/IP games.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Diablo II clones on this page open source?
Yes — every clone catalogued here is an open-source project. Availability, license, and development-status details for each one are listed in the comparison table above.
What license do these Diablo II clones use?
OpenDiablo2 and OpenD2 (GPL-3.0); Diablerie and Abyss Engine (MIT); Riiablo (Apache-2.0).
Do I need to own the original Diablo II to play these clones?
OpenDiablo2, Diablerie, Riiablo, OpenD2, and 2 more require original game assets to play.
See the full write-up for each clone, or go back to Diablo II.