Multiplayer has been a cornerstone of Diablo since the days of reading off IP addresses over the phone, and Diablo 4 cross-play could take it further than ever before. Blizzard confirmed it's working toward Diablo 4 cross-play in an interview with The Telegraph at BlizzCon over the weekend, where the game was officially unveiled.
"We're very excited about cross-play,” Diablo 4 executive producer Allen Adham said. “There are technical details and details to work through with the first parties, but it's our goal to get to cross-play.”
Short for cross-platform multiplayer, cross-play means players across multiple platforms can join up and play together in the same game. A few years ago it was almost unthinkable that members of the PlayStation and Xbox communities and beyond would be able to play together. Today, major games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Fortnite, and Rocket League have all proven it can be the norm. There are still some wrinkles, like allowing cross-platform parties and friend lists, but the fact that it exists at all is worthy of celebration.
Diablo 4 will take place in a connected world, where you'll occasionally cross paths with other players even if you don't go out of your way to team up. The game will support impromptu co-op World Events as well as full-fledged PvP, though Blizzard is keeping details scarce on the competitive aspects of multiplayer so far. Not only would cross-play make it possible for friends on different platforms to team up (assuming PC players ever stop judging their console cousins for the lack of high-speed clicking), it would also make it easier to find folks to play with in any given activity.
Diablo 4 cross-play could even go cross-generational; while Blizzard has only officially announced Diablo 4 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, the developers have confirmed that they're keeping an eye on PS5 and Xbox Project Scarlett.
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