No Auction House for Diablo 3 on PS3

Diablo 3 on the PS3, sounds pretty great, right? Well, it might not be all you were hoping for. When news that Sony and Blizzard were partnering to bring the Diablo franchise to the PlayStation, many console gamers were pleased to hear that they’ll be able to join in on the fun that is Diablo 3 – without having to spend the money on a new PC, or some hefty upgrades.

Something Diablo 3 players will already know and love is the in-game Auction House, which allows players to buy and sell items they find in-game, for real money. For a lot of players, the Auction House is what kept Diablo 3 fresh, once you were done with all of the looting, so so much looting. However, this – fairly significant – part of the game won’t be making the transition from PC to console. Speaking at PAX East, a spokesperson told Polygon that “Players can trade (whether offline or online) using an in-game menu, they just need to be playing in the same game. We should have more details soon.” It’s certainly a blow to those looking to make some quick cash when the game hits the console soon.

Along with the news that Diablo 3 will lose its Auction House, comes word that there’s been changes to the  way that enemies behave and attack, in order to adjust to the change of playing with a controller instead of a mouse and keyboard. Those that prefer to play with a gamepad on their PC – like those who play World of Warcraft with a gamepad – will be disappointed to hear that there are no plans to bring controller support to the PC.

Multiplayer is a big part of Diablo 3, PC players will remember spending hours raiding with friends across the globe, and when it hits the PS3 there will be an online element to the gameplay. Combined with the ability to trade, will be a four-player co-op mode, both online and offline.

As we all know, Diablo 3 is coming to both the PS3 and the next-gen PS4, however a release date for neither has been confirmed, nor have Blizzard said whether or not the game will be headed to other consoles outside of the PlayStation.

Blizzard’s partnership with Sony has been a little strange to watch, after all the company is not known for publishing console games and Diablo isn’t something you’d instantly think of playing with a controller instead of the beloved mouse. Changes in how the game plays however, could alter the gameplay experience and I, for one, hope that Blizzard remember what made Diablo 3 such a fun game in the first place.