At the PS4 reveal event back in February, Blizzard revealed that Diablo 3 was finally making the jump to consoles. Shortly thereafter, at E3 2013, Microsoft announced the dungeon-crawling title was also headed to the Xbox 360, and that both versions would hit in September.
Not to be outdone, Sony is also offering Diablo 3 on the PS4, their next-gen platform. However, considering that console won't have hit store shelves by then, most figured the next-gen version would release in November.
As it turns out, Diablo 3 won't be making the jump to next-gen this year, as Blizzard has only just received dev kits for the PS4. Blizzard wanted to stagger development, presumably so each platform got its due. That isn't to say porting a PC game to the PS4 is an arduous task, but don't expect the next-gen versions of Diablo 3 until some time in 2014.
"It’s not a launch title; it will be released at some point at 2014. We thought that it’s really important we stagger development, so that we focus first on the PC, then to focus on current-gen and then — now that that’s done — we’re really looking at how to make it to the next-gen. Always making sure we’re making the right decisions to make each of the platforms really take advantage of what makes those platforms unique and special."
To that end, Blizzard isn't looking to port the Diablo 3 to the PS4 directly, but is instead hoping to get some use out of the Dual Shock 4's new features, namely the share button and the track pad. For those that might not know, the flat surface on the front of the Dual Shock 4 functions as both a touch sensitive track pad and two separate buttons. In essence, it's like a laptop mouse.
Considering Diablo 3 is a PC game it seems like a no-brainer that Blizzard would try to port some of their mouse-specific controls over, but we're only speculating at this point. In fact, they might not even end up supporting the share feature or the track pad when all is said and done.
For now, gamers have a current gen port of Diablo 3 to look forward to, which will hit store shelves in the fall.
Are you looking forward to playing Diablo 3 on a console? Would you rather wait for the PS4 version of the game?
Diablo 3 releases September 3, 2013 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
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Source: Diablo Fans