The original Diablo made its way to the PlayStation back in 1998, and it looks like the upcoming Diablo III may be doing the same. At least, that's what a trio of job listings on Blizzard's website suggest. It appears that the developer is looking for a lead designer, lead programmer, and a senior producer for console games to join the Diablo III team, though whether or not this means that the game is coming to the Xbox or PlayStation is very much an open question.
Unsurprisingly, Blizzard has denied that the positions are in any way an announcement of the game coming to consoles. Instead, it looks like the developer is simply experimenting to see just what it can do in that space.
"We're exploring a Diablo-related concept for consoles and are currently looking to fill a few senior console-related positions on the Diablo III team," the company wrote on the game's community page. "As we've said in the past, with proper care the gameplay could suit the console platform, and we're interested in seeing what talent out there might be interested in such a project—Please note that this is not an announcement of a console title. We are first and foremost developing Diablo III for Windows and Mac PCs and don’t intend to allow any possibility of a console interpretation to delay or affect the release of the game."
So Blizzard could be trying to port the game to a console, or it may be working on some sort of StarCraft: Ghost style spin-off. Either way, the news shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Blizzard has been talking about a console version of Diablo III since the game was announced back in 2008.
"A lot of it depends on whether we think the gameplay experience will be the same on console, especially regarding the controls," Blizzard COO Paul Sams told the Guardian just two days after the game's initial announcement. "Also I'd like to keep our audience together. One question mark I have is whether the console owners would allow PC players to play against console gamers. I think the answer gets a lot easier if the console owners say yes. But at the moment they do like to have closed systems. But you know, I think what it really comes down to is the game itself. We want to deliver what is the best experience possible so the controls and everything else have to be perfect."
It's the same mentality the developer appears to have for all of its franchises: quality first. When we asked about whether or not StarCraft II would ever make its way to consoles or even the iPad, the response we got was very similar to the one Sams gave regarding Diablo III.
"Will we give users the same quality experience? We don't put multiple SKUs out there and have like, the good SKU, and the 'Meh, we exploited this SKU, we made some money.' We don't want that SKU, the version that's not the good version," lead designer Dustin Browder told Ars. "We haven't found a control scheme that we like that would allow you to play at the same level or close to the same level, and so no console."
Unlike a lot of developers, Blizzard has the freedom and resources to develop games and then scrap them if they don't reach a certain level of quality. So yes, Blizzard is working on Diablo III for consoles. But if they aren't happy with it, don't expect the game to ever see the light of day. This could simply end up being this generation's Ghost.
Source: ars technica
