Blizzard is "very serious" about bringing Diablo to consoles

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Blizzard roused suspicions last November when it posted job listings pertaining to a "Diablo-related concept for consoles." When questioned, the developer quelled that brush fire by suggesting that nothing was official and it was simply exploring the possibility of developing a Diablo title for consoles -- an initiative that may be underway. At Gamescom today, Blizzard all but confirmed that it's preparing a Diablo title for consoles.

Diablo 3 lead designer Josh Mosqueira said that Blizzard "is very, very serious about bringing the Diablo 3 experience to the console," noting that the developer is already assembling a team to tackle the project. "We're looking for programmers, designers, artists who think their dream job would be to bring Diablo to the console. Trust me, it is a dream job," Mosqueria said. "All I can say is, it's going to be awesome. Stay tuned."

Based on EuroGamer's report, Mosqueria didn't elaborate on what the project might be, but Blizzard suggested last year that it wouldn't directly port the PC version of Diablo III to consoles because it might degrade the title's quality. Instead, the developer said it was more likely to produce a spinoff in the same universe. Despite expressing interest bringing Diablo to consoles, Blizzard stressed that its core focus remained on PC.

The long-awaited dungeon crawler is still lacking an official release date for PC, but it's expected to enter a public beta phase sometime this quarter, possibly coinciding with Blizzard's annual Blizzcon event in October. A few weeks ago, we learned that the game will require a permanent Internet connection to play, and it will have an in-game auction system that allows players to exchange digital content for real-world currency.

During the same Gamescom press conference, cofounder Frank Pearce also explained that Blizzard has no plans to develop a StarCraft MMO as it's too busy with existing projects. "We definitely feel like all the worlds we create would lend themselves well to multiple genres and multiple forms of media," he said, adding that Blizzard would consider backing an in-house team that was passionate about creating a StarCraft MMO.

"Right now…we've got our hands full with everything we're doing, so we don't really have any plans to do anything beyond the StarCraft RTSs and the expansions right now. But anything's possible, because we have created such rich and cool universes." Earlier this year, a group of modders unveiled an ambitious project to create a WoW-like StarCraft game originally called World of StarCraft, but later renamed to StarCraft Universe.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/45145-blizzard-is-very-serious-about-bringing-diablo-to-consoles.html

 

[venomblade]

As long as PC is the lead development platform like BF3 is, I'm fine with that.

 

[Guest]

That's where the cash cows are. Makes sense.

 

[Guest]

....but will there be a cow level?

 

[gwailo247]

Not just very serious, but very very serious. And that's only one level away from extremely serious.

 

[Guest]

I wish Google would buy Blizzard so that Diablo III would be an exclusive Android game.

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

Diablo was always on consoles, just never as good. I suspect D3 to be the same. It really comes down to the fact that Diablo with a controller is awful.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Guest said:
....but will there be a cow level?

:/ There is no cow level.

 

[DeliciousPie]

Bye, Blizzard.

 

[Guest]

*Bobby Kotick is at the window waving

 

[Tekkaraiden]

xclusiveitalian said:
Diablo was always on consoles, just never as good. I suspect D3 to be the same. It really comes down to the fact that Diablo with a controller is awful.

Which is strange since the Xbox and PS2 had a few good dungeon crawlers that generation.

 

[gwailo247]

xclusiveitalian said:
Diablo was always on consoles, just never as good. I suspect D3 to be the same. It really comes down to the fact that Diablo with a controller is awful.

You'd figure that the next gen consoles should support a mouse.

 

[Zecias]

gwailo247 said:

xclusiveitalian said:
Diablo was always on consoles, just never as good. I suspect D3 to be the same. It really comes down to the fact that Diablo with a controller is awful.

You'd figure that the next gen consoles should support a mouse.

yeah, when it comes to consoles this is the deal breaker for me. I really hate controllers, especially for shooters.

 

[gwailo247]

zecias said:
You'd figure that the next gen consoles should support a mouse.

yeah, when it comes to consoles this is the deal breaker for me. I really hate controllers, especially for shooters.[/quote]

I just can't play any kind of shooter game on a console. I fired up RDR on my buddy's Xbox and tried to shoot the coyotes and missed every one, badly. Then I set it up to assist my aim, and it was just too easy.

Sorry, but nothing beats using the center mouse wheel to zoom in a 50 cal on your enemy's head.

WASD forever, lol.

 

[treetops]

Diablo 3 !!!!! idc if it comes out for nes im still gonna play it

 

[Brewskie]

As long as the single player mode requires a constant internet connection Diablo 3 is still nothing but spyware.

Perhaps there are more people like me, who will NOT be buying Diablo 3 because of this requirement, is the reason they now want to put it on consoles.

 

[ramonsterns]

venomblade said:
As long as PC is the lead development platform like BF3 is, I'm fine with that.

News flash: BF3 is BFBC2.5, the .5 being jets and more players. They can claim they're making BF3 with PC in mind, but in the end it plays just like BFBC2, which was made for consoles.

 

[Guest]

I think it's a great idea making Diablo for the consoles. If any of you have played Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale with a Xbox 360 controller, you know it's possible to have good action-rpg controls with a pad. Granted, Daggerdale was a horrible port to the PC and generally brown, gray and boring, but the action and the controls were excellent.

I'm actually disappointed that Blizzard doesn't seem to have the brains to make Diablo III compatible with a controller. The last thing I want, is for Diablo III to turn into WoW with 100 skills per character and 10 action-bars or whatever they call it. They should keep it simple. It is, after all, a action-rpg... Isn't it? I'm really starting to wonder.

With all this online stuff, I'm thinking Blizzard is just half a brainfart away from making this a fullblown MMO with subscription fees and everything. They seem to focus more on making web content and services more than they focus on actually finishing the game. God forbid they stopped making money after people just buy their games!!!

 

[Richy2k9]

hello ...

already pre-ordered Diablo III for PC, & that's it!

If it comes to consoles, can be cool if the online play is cross-platform yet i hate it when too many people playing for free, sometimes we can have immature gamers (not necessarily kids here) that spoil the fun.

if they do an exclusive PC version & an exclusive console version would be more than better, just let the PC version push any machine to max potential & console port be the best of their respective system. I agree that playing with a controller is no more an issue for such games, there are great similar games now that works just fine with a PS3 or Xbox controller.

I just can't wait for D3 & by meaning the Diablo title to consoles, it can also mean a console exclusive title & not necessarily D3, that would be great for then will buy both

cheers!

 

[TorturedChaos]

The first Diablo was released the the Playstation and it played fairly well. Thats actually where I got my first taste of the Diablo universe.

But even if they do release a spin off for consoles I think I still want D3 for the my PC. There are some style of game I prefer to play on the console and others that play nicer on the PC.

 

[stewi0001]

sooo how will expans. work? or will they not have them or are they gonna have consule exclusive stuff? if so, screw that...

 

[Relic]

Brewskie said:
As long as the single player mode requires a constant internet connection Diablo 3 is still nothing but spyware.

Perhaps there are more people like me, who will NOT be buying Diablo 3 because of this requirement, is the reason they now want to put it on consoles.

I'm with you, not even having an offline option with a second character is a big deal breaker for me. I really wanted to have some fun game on the go and it's sadly not D3. I guess Torchlight 2 will have to do .