Offline play coming to Diablo 3 on PC?

Diablo 3 has just released for consoles and with it comes local co-op multiplayer and offline play, and this has raised questions with the PC community as to why there’s no offline mode with Diablo 3 on the mouse and keyboard platform.

“Diablo plays best when you’re playing with other people. Because not a lot of people connect their consoles to the internet, that’s where the whole idea of having to get four people on the same couch playing together. That’s how we get that social aspect,” said Diablo 3’s game director Josh Mosqueira.

“But on PC, we really want players to feel they’re part of the bigger Blizzard and Diablo community. It’s a choice of platform and opportunity for our players to benefit from. There’s a more secure item trading environment, but also a more social environment.

: Diablo 3

: Diablo 3

: Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls screenshot

Mosqueira recalled the initial reaction to the console features announcement, and the backlash that Blizzard got from disgruntled PC fans.

“When we announced people could play offline on console, within seconds there were posts on the forums asking for an online-only mode for console, to make sure people weren’t cheating,” Mosqueira said. “We cannot win.”

“That’s something all game developers have to accept very early in their careers,” added Diablo 3’s lead content designer Kevin Martens.

“We realised we can’t make everybody happy,” Mosqueira said. “We just wanted to do right by the game. What is the right decision for the game? How do we make sure people are having the most fun possible playing the game?”

And with regards to the online requirements and Auction House, Martens explained that those features are “not going anywhere”.

“Each game stands on certain pillars that hold the game up,” Martens said. “What are those core things that never change? A good vision for a game can state those in such a way that no matter how you iterate over and over again and change all the details, those things still stand true. The online one is one we’ve tried to stick to throughout the whole thing.”