So, you were looking forward to braving the hellish hordes of Diablo 4 alone? Well, you’ll be able to do that, but… there’s a caveat, as players will have to be online at all times.
Now, gamers of late 2019 have it quite easy. In this technology-reliant world, players are connected to each from just about everywhere. It’s never been easier to find matches in online games, whether you have friends playing with you or not. The days of hauling consoles, cables, and controllers over to a friend’s house are largely behind us.
This is super sad for those of us who love a little good old-fashioned couch co-op, but that’s the price we pay for online gaming. The industry is rife with multiplayer-oriented online experiences. Almost every genre, from racers to shooters and everything in between, is centered around that concept now.
The trouble is, many developers are becoming just a little too ready to assume that players will have access to a solid internet connection at all times. This can put gamers in all kinds of difficult situations. Take the recent Nintendo Switch port of Overwatch, for instance. One of the main selling points of the Switch edition is its portability, but how often will you have access to a decent internet connection while you’re on the go? Now, it’s become clear that another Blizzard property is going to have some online issues.
The upcoming Diablo 4, the company has revealed, is going to require the player to be online at all times. As reported by Dark Side of Gaming, it will boast an open world that players share, and so will do away with an offline mode entirely. This isn’t anything new in the current climate, but it’s just one more restriction that can make things tough for the players.
This isn’t to say that the single-player experience is going anywhere, of course. Fans will be free to battle and loot their way around the game’s vast world alone if they wish… as long as their internet connection isn’t interrupted at the most inopportune moment (as tends to happen).
As for when we might get to play the game, it’s best to settle in for a long wait. In the words of the title’s director, Luis Barriga, “A game of this scope takes time… we’re not coming out soon – not even Blizzard soon.”
Source: Dark Side of Gaming