Console

After months of rumors and official non-denials, on February 20, 2013 Blizzard officially announced a Diablo 3 console version coming to the PlayStation 3 & 4.[1][2] The official Console page went online that day, but without a release date announced. Many more details about the console were revealed in March 2013 at the PAX gaming show, the console release was said to be coming, "Soon-ish."[3]

The Diablo console project (not merely a Diablo 3 port, Blizzard insists) has been underway for a long time. Diablo 3 developers mentioned the concept all the way back in 2008 and began "exploring a Diablo-related concept for consoles"[4] in 2010. From the start the project was headed up by Josh Mosqueira, and positions are still open.[5]

See dozens of Diablo 3 console news items via Diablo.IncGamers.com.

Console Features

Redesigned UI for the console.

Key details about the Diablo 3 console. Most of these were revealed at the first public showing of the console in playable form at the PAX gaming show in March, 2013.[6][7][8]

The console version is virtually the same game as the PC version. The big changes are to the interface and controls, with small tweaks to boss battles, camera angle, and some monster behavior. The console will launch in at v1.07 with all the features of the PC game, including added features and systems such as the Infernal Machine, Paragon levels, etc. The developers are committed to frequent console patches, which will run roughly in tandem with patches for the PC/Mac version.

"It’s basically the same. Same XP gain, same enemies. The only tweak we made is since the screen is a little more zoomed in, we slightly changed enemy wave spawns. Boss battles were also changed, in a fun way to accommodate consoles. We did not need to compromise this version in any way."

--Matthew Berger

Some of the key differences between the console version and the PC/Mac version:

Completely redesigned controls and interface to work with thumbpad and stick rather than mouse and keyboard.
- All characters have a new Dodge ability which utilizes a diving roll effect. This is to make up for the less precise no-mouse movement.
Offline play mode for the console. Online play via the PlayStation network.
- Characters are stored on your own machine and can be saved on a USB stick and played on a friend's machine.
Up to four players in a game, linked online via the PlayStation Network, or on the same machine.
- Playing on the same machine does not utilize any split-screen technology; all 4 players are on the same screen and must travel together and work as a group.
  - When multiple players are on the same machine (but not for PSN online party play) loot drops are shared in the Diablo 2 "first grabbed first served" style.
No Auction House (Using Gold or Real Money) for the console. Items can be traded and exchanged in-game.
Better loot, and less junk drops to avoid cluttering the screen in MP games and to make character progression possible without an Auction House.

Gallery

Official console "sizzle" trailer and a video of the console in action from PAX East 2013.

Console preview trailer.

Console in action from PAX 2013.

Screenshots showing off the Console version. Key differences are the interface and menus, and a modified camera angle. The game content is almost identical to the PC/Mac version; only the presentation varies.

Artist's conception of multiplayer on the same console machine.
Barbarian in Act 3.
Demon Hunter in Act 2.
Redesigned console skills interface.
Redesigned console inventory.
Act 2 action.
Battling Diablo's shadow clone.

The official console announcement by Chris Metzen, from February 20, 2013.

Early Diablo 3 Console Statements

The section below collects a variety of comments about the console by the Diablo 3 developers, from 2008-2010, all made long before the project was officially announced.

Jay Wilson to Shacknews, October 2008.[9]

Diablo 3 director Jay Wilson also chimed in on the oft-speculated topic, noting that the game's control scheme would work rather well on consoles.

If we did it, we would want to do a really high quality version--we wouldn't just want to do a port," Wilson said. "We would never make that decision if we thought we had to compromise the overall quality...we could probably do it at any time, we could release the game and then decide we wanted to do a 360 version or a PS3 version. We haven't really decided to take the [console] plunge," he continued "We've really come to the conclusion that it's probably the best fit because the control scheme is actually not that incompatible. So if we were to make that decision, Diablo would be the natural choice.

Jay Wilson to Play.tm, November 2008: [10]

We don't have any console plans right now. I would say that of all our games... well, Blizzard doesn't view itself as just a PC developer, we think we're a games developer. So if we thought a game was more appropriate for consoles we'd make it, its just that most of the games we've made so far feel better on the PC. However, Diablo is maybe the one exception. I think the control scheme would translate really well to a console, erm, there are many elements that would be easy to pull over... that could work well with direct control. There's not a lot of buttons, so you could fit them on a controller pretty easily. There are some targeting issues that could be troublesome, but nothing that couldn't be overcome. But, we're also used to developing for the PC, so right now we're completely focused on that.

Jay Wilson to GamingShogun, August 2009.[11]

We haven't made a decision whether we do a console version or not... We like console games, we play tons of console games - we're gamers across the board, not just PC gamers. The fact that all of our games are PC-oriented is more about the kind of games we make rather than the fact that we consider ourselves a PC game-developer. A Diablo game would probably convert to a console better than our other games. But the task of developing Diablo III is such a monumental one that making it cross-platform as well is not a high-priority for us.

Diablo 3 Console Project Confirmed

After years of hints, Blizzard finally acknowledged that they were starting work on a Diablo 3 console game in October 2010, via a forum post by Bashiok, the Diablo III community manager:[12]

As some of you may have seen over on the Diablo III home page, we’re currently exploring a Diablo-related concept for consoles. As we’ve said in the past, with proper care the gameplay could suit the console platform, and we’re interested in seeing what talent out there might be interested in contributing to such a project.

To further reiterate what’s posted on the home page: this is not an announcement of a console title. We are first and foremost developing Diablo III for Windows and Mac PCs, and we have no intention of allowing a console interpretation to delay or otherwise affect the release of the game. As always feel free to discuss this topic here, but please note that we don’t have any further details to share at this time.

If you or someone you know would be interested in joining the Diablo team, then head over to the job posts to check out the requirements and submit an application.

Jason Bender and Christian Lichtner in an interview from Blizzcon, October 2010:[13]

Jason Bender: I think [Diablo 3] is suited to consoles. We’re definitely working, obviously, on the PC version. This is something that’s been brought up a lot about Diablo. It’s sort of an ongoing question. And I’m sure we would all love to play it on console, but right now, we’re just focused on what we’ve got in front of us. Who knows what the future holds? It’s hard to say.
Christian Lichtner: We have said in the past that Diablo’s one of the games that really would translate [to consoles] well.

Mike Morhaime in March 2011 repeated the same lines: [14]

“We are looking for a couple of console developers, yes. At this stage though, it’s basically an investigation to see if it makes sense for Diablo to be a console game as well as a PC game.

Blizzcon 2011

Jay Wilson commented on the ongoing Diablo console project from Blizzcon in October 2011. There were still no specifics, but Blizzard announced the hiring of Josh Mosqueira as the head of their console team in mid-2011, largely as a spur to hiring other qualified applicants.[15]

[blue]We’ve hired people to work on the console. We have an internal team. We’ve spoken about it since it helps with hiring. We think Diablo 3 will work on console, we’ve experimented with controls, etc. But it’s essential to us that it not compromise the PC game at all, and it doesn’t feel like a crappy port to console either. Both should stand alone and work nicely. But we’re not announcing anything until we’re more sure about it.[/blue]

Past Blizzard Console Titles

Blizzard Entertainment started out small, churning out console ports for various long-forgotten games in the early 1990s. They eventually made two original console titles, The Lost Vikings and Rock and Roll Racing, before turning to larger original computer games, starting with Warcraft and Warcraft II. You can see a full listing of their early games on the Wikipedia page.

Their next console effort was Starcraft: Ghost, which was produced by independent game studios working in conjunction with Blizzard. The game lingered through several development cycles before finally going into indefinite delay in August, 2005.

Blizzard has announced no console plans since that point, though they've spoken frequently about their interest in returning to their console gaming roots, either with a port of one of their other titles or an original game, like Starcraft: Ghost.

"...we're a company of gamers. I have two consoles at home. Sam has consoles. We're a culture of gamers. We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that. It's just [a matter of] what game. What makes the most sense?"

J. Allen Brack, production director for World of Warcraft [16]

As always with Blizzard, they are unlikely to announce anything until the project is well underway, but from their frequent comments on the issue it seems very likely that they've got something in the works.