Unlike the current version Diablo III for the Mac and PC, players on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 will get to play their game even without an internet connection. “You can have four people on the same screen—no split-screen, we just zoom the camera out. Or if you’re offline,” Blizzard production director John Hight confirmed in his interview with GameTrailers which you can view below:

Aside from removing the always-online requirement to play, the upcoming Diablo III console port will give players the ability to directly control their characters instead of clicking onto an area for movement allowing for a more console-centric control-scheme. The game UI also receives an overhaul to accomodate the controller.

According to Hight, Blizzard is “much further along” on the PlayStation 3 version than the PlayStation 4 version which will likely mean that the PlayStation 3 version will come out earlier.

In hindsight, there is no mention of the Auction house (both the in-game currency and real money version) which is likely the reason for the offline-play.

“We finally got to see the [PlayStation 4] controller yesterday, so we already have a lot of thoughts about how we’re going to use the touch bar,” said Hight. “And we want to take full advantage of the social aspects, so that it feels natural for console gamers. They can go into PlayStation Network, they can go through their friends list—we’re going to have full matchmaking through that.”

“We’re going to do updates on the console side just as we’ve been doing along on the PC side,” Hight added, which is probably the reason why Diablo III will be coming to the PlayStation consoles instead of the Xbox.

The PlayStation 3 version of Diablo III will be playable at PAX East next month.

source Eurogamer