Multiplayer Diablo can be a lot of fun with the right people, but if you were hoping to leap into the action with your console-playing friends, Blizzard has some bad news: It ain't gonna happen.
Making the PC and console editions of the game work together might not sound like a big deal, but it's "definitely not possible at this point with this game," Lead Designer Kevin Martens told GameSpot. "We didn't build it that way, so the two ecosystems are closed. I'm trying to give you the most definitive, least PR answer there is, and that is no, we can't do that. What the Xbox and PlayStation networks do is different than what Battle.net does."
That's also why Seasons, the ladder-like leaderboards that debuted in the 2.1 patch released in August, won't be coming to the console versions of the game. "Seasons requires always online, and that's one of the major differences in the ecosystems there," Martens said. "For seasonal conquests and things to be what they are, everyone has to be playing on the same leveled field. That's a great example for something that doesn't work for consoles."
The obvious question—why the console versions of Diablo 3 don't have that onerous always-online requirement, despite Blizzard saying for years that it was designed first and foremost as an online game—remains unanswered. But the bottom line is, you're not going to be playing with your console buddies.
