Hollywood actress and television host Whoopi Goldberg has put herself in a bit of a pickle after purchasing Diablo 4 without first looking into the game's supported platforms. Though Activision Blizzard has successfully supported a wide array of devices from multiple hardware generations, it appears that some have been left behind this time around, affecting the game's mass market outreach.
Broadly, it's difficult to argue against the success of Diablo 4, with the game smashing records immediately upon coming out. With widespread critical acclaim and obvious broad appeal, it is poised for success in both the short and long term, but that's not to say that Blizzard's done a perfect job in getting the game to all applicable platforms, as Goldberg herself recently explained.
Specifically, Whoopi Goldberg purchased a copy of Diablo 4 without checking whether the game would run on her Mac computer, only to discover that this isn't the case, much to her chagrin. Goldberg has long been a fan of Diablo, and she expected to be able to play the new title the same as she could with all the previous games. After figuring out that this wouldn't work, she took to social media, where she implored Blizzard to work out a port: "This is Whoopi," she said. "You know how much I love Diablo. I would like y'all to let those of us who use our Apples to play."
It's easy to see why Goldberg would be excited about the new Diablo, of course. Not only would its release be a big deal for a franchise fan such as herself, but there's also the fact that Diablo 4 is a genuinely great ARPG. At the same time, Goldberg did not do her due diligence and check whether Mac is supported as a platform, having bought the game blind.
On the flip side of things, it certainly is possible to play Diablo 4 on MacOS using Apple's new game compatibility layer. The process is generally quite similar to how Steam Deck owners install Diablo 4, in a broad sense, and it shows great promise for Mac gamers such as Goldberg. Odds are good that she'll get acquainted with the process soon enough, as it's unlikely Blizzard will sanction a full-fledged port to MacOS as it currently stands.
Of course, this does mean that Goldberg may miss out on some of Diablo 4's live-service features, though these may not even be her cup of tea, depending on how interested she is in such content. It remains to be seen how, exactly, Blizzard may handle Diablo 4's temporary content over a long period of time, and the extent to which FOMO may be leveraged to optimize the game's post-launch earnings.
Diablo 4 is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Entertainment Weekly