14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard has talked in-depth about the lack of controller support for Diablo 3 on the PC and Mac platforms, despite the fact that the game has already been launched for consoles like the PS3 or Xbox 360.
Diablo 3 was finally launched for the PC and Mac in 2012, after many years in development, and for the PS3 and Xbox 360 earlier this year.
While the dungeon crawling RPG kept most of its core gameplay intact on PC, on consoles Blizzard had to implement support for their controllers while changing mechanics and the interface to make it easier to navigate.
Unfortunately for PC owners who prefer console controllers, such a feature won't be released for Diablo 3 on PC or Mac, as the game's rhythm would change dramatically.
"The rhythm on PC is tactactactactactac – you’re clicking the mouse, you’re telling your character where to go, the rhythm is very different. It flows more, because you’re constantly repositioning your character with the thumbstick; you’re really never stationary on console, whereas on PC you’re a lot more stationary," Diablo 3 Console Senior Level Designer Matthew Berger told Eurogamer.
"Part of the reason for this different rhythm is the addition of evasion to the console versions, which makes the gameplay faster in some ways. The camera is also more zoomed in, so players need to use evade to move to safety rather than imply clicking away from danger. The result is that the two versions play quite differently."
The difference in experience when going from the mouse and keyboard to the controller proved really tricky for Blizzard when it brought the game onto consoles, and Berger highlighted some of the changes that were necessary.
"If I let you use the controller on the PC, then I have to let you use the user interface that goes with it, and if I give you the roll and I haven’t throttled the number of enemies attacking you because the mouse-and-keyboard players can handle all those enemies, but with a controller you have too many guys," Berger added.
"The games have really been structured to take advantage of their environment and their ecosystem, so in the same way it would not be a good fit to put a mouse and keyboard on the console. It wouldn’t work."
Diablo 3 is set to receive an expansion called Reaper of Souls on all platforms, and it will launch on the PS4 in the form of the Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition.