When picking my platform of choice for Diablo 4, I was faced with a dilemma. In one corner, I have a solid gaming PC endowed with a GeForce RTX 3080, capable of running Diablo 4 at the kinds of searing frame rates that even current-gen consoles can only dream of. In the other, I’ve got a PS4 Pro, still managing to somehow stay relevant and capable of running the latest current-gen games, but slowly starting to be phased out by the very latest releases. It’s a sturdy old warhorse, but it’s starting to show its age.
If I went for the PC version, benchmarks suggest I’d probably be playing the game at around 70fps at a pure 4K resolution. On PS4 Pro meanwhile, I’d be restricted to 30fps at “1180p.” 1180p? What even is that? In all my years of messing around with game resolutions—from the days when 800 x 600 seemed like the pinnacle of pixel density through to 4K, via the venerable PC monitor realm of 1440p—I’ve never so much as noticed 1180p. What’s even the width of that resolution? 2060 or something? No idea.
One thing that 1180p very clearly is not is 2160p (aka 4K), and yet when it came to crunch time, I opted against visual fidelity and opted for the PS4 Pro version. You know why? Local co-op. My partner and I had a blast cutting through Diablo 3 during the pandemic—taking out our rage at being penned up at home on hell’s minions—and are all onboard for doing the same in Diablo 4. Blizzard, in all their wisdom, omitted local co-op from the PC version of the game for reasons that pretty much amount to nothing, so I was prepared to go for an inferior version of the game in order to get a feature I desperately wanted. (if you think that makes me a 'filthy casual,' then sure, whatever, piss off).
But it’s only when I tried playing Diablo 4 on the PS4 Pro that a possible rationale for Blizzard’s bizarre PC local co-op omission fell into place. In order to play Diablo 4 online along with the rest of the world, it totally skipped my mind that I’d need a Playstation Plus subscription, which had long since lapsed for me on PS4. In that moment, all the pieces fell into place, and I realised that—intentionally or not—the game had checkmated me.
See, my intention isn’t to always play Diablo 4 co-op. Inevitably (especially after my partner and I complete the campaign), I’ll be playing the game solo as I mess around with new builds, higher difficulties, and the game’s endless endgame. Stuck with the PS4 version, on a PS Plus subscription that’s increasingly tailored towards PS5 owners rather than PS4 ones, I’m essentially paying a £6 monthly subscription fee just to continue playing Diablo 4 on the PS4. I already own most of the PS4 games I’m ever going to play, I play on PC for more modern releases, so the subscription is a bit of a dud.
Now realistically, to play through the game in local co-op will take my partner and I between one and two months (yep, we’re busier people than those folks racing to get to Level 100 first), so I’ll begrudgingly cough up a couple of months of PS Plus for that privilege. But then what? Cough up £6 each time I want to dip back into to play it co-op?
The only logical solution for me if I want to keep playing Diablo 4 solo is to buy the PC version, which costs £60/$70 upfront but doesn’t charge a subscription fee, which means that within a year buying that extra copy will work out cheaper than continuing on PS4 (not to mention I get to play a superior version of the game—albeit with a suspiciously absent local co-op feature).
Maybe this is a bit of a niche issue; current-gen console owners tend to be subscribed to PS Plus or Game Pass anyway, while many PC players—loners that they are—scoff at the idea of local co-op on PC, as if somehow playing PC on a big screen with gamepads is some act of high treason. However, having a high-end gaming PC often obviates the need for a current-gen console, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a combination of last-gen console with current-gen PC, facing a predicament about which version of Diablo 4 to buy.
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t regret my choice, because I don’t feel I really had a choice. Diablo 4’s an absolute blast to play side by side with a pal, or loved one (or who’s to say that your pal can’t become your loved one in the ecstasy of defeating an end-of-act boss, hmm?), and this is definitely the way I want to play it on my first run through. But it’s maddening that once my co-op adventure ends, I may as well cough up for another copy of the game, as that’ll work out cheaper in the long run than persisting on PS4.
Of course, this could easily haave been avoided had the PC version included local co-op, but why would Blizzard have wanted to avoid a scenario that leads to people like me buying the game again? I’m not saying this was an intentional ploy by Blizzard to trap folks in the current-gen PC/last-gen console Venn diagram into buying two copies of the game, but you have to admit, it’s mighty convenient for them.