A post on the Diablo 3 forums reveals that Blizzard's hot action-RPG title for the current and next-gen PlayStation consoles will not have cross-platform multiplayer capabilities with the PC version. The news should be expected given that the game will reside on two separate closed networks, namely Blizzard's Battle.net and Sony's PlayStation Network.
"While we think cross-platform play would be awesome, there are currently no plans to allow connectivity between PlayStation Network and Battle.net (this is pretty standard for most games that have PC and console support)," the company said. "As a result, the characters on your Battle.net account and PlayStation account will also remain separate."
Blizzard also said that there are currently no plans to enable analog controller support for the PC version. Adding to that, Blizzard also doesn't have any plans to add mouse and keyboard support for the PlayStation version – it was designed with a controller in mind.
Now here's a bit of info that should tick off plenty of PC gamers: Diablo 3 for PlayStation (3 & 4) may not require an internet connection to play. Sony's John Hight said that the console version will allow up to four players to hack through dungeons on the same screen without the need for the typical split-screen mode. "We just zoom the camera out. Or if you're offline..." he started to explain but was interrupted by GameTrailers host Geoff Keighley.
Additionally, Hight also said the PlayStation 3 version is "much further along" in development than the PlayStation 4 version. However the team had only just seen the DualShock 4 controller when the console versions were announced, and indicated that the game may support the PS4 controller's cool touchpad.
So far it's unknown if the PlayStation versions will also include the Auction Houses. Selling goods for real-world cash seems unlikely for the PlayStation Network, but trading goods using Sony's Station Cash or something similar seems to be a safer bet.
The launch of Diablo 3 on the PS3 and PS4 will be the first time the series has appeared on consoles since the release of the original Diablo on the original PlayStation in 1998, two years after the action-RPG made its PC/Mac debut. The PSOne version can still be purchased on Amazon for as much as $20,000 USD, depending on the condition, and as much as $750 on eBay. Crazy.
