Back in May 2012, Activision Blizzard released its Action RPG Diablo III. Much to my disappointment, the company had already announced that the game would be online-only, which included the single player campaign, and prompted me to write an editorial months before its release titled Boycotting Diablo III: A Threat to Gaming (which received a ton of hate and ridicule). Well, 11 years have gone by and Activision Blizzard has announced that it will patch in a single player mode for Diablo III.
Called Solo Self Found mode, which sounds moronic like Emma Watson saying she is “self-partnered” and a perceived insult to players who wanted this mode, Solo Self Found mode will offer the single player experience for gamers who loved the original Diablo and Diablo II for that specific reason. However, Activision Blizzard’s press release just makes the news all the more galling for its tone towards gamers.
“We decided to bring Solo Self Found to Diablo III after years of players requesting an officially supported single player mode. Without the experience bonus from being in a Party, or other players to protect your back as you carve through demonic legions, this mode will temper you. To celebrate the accomplishments of those brave enough to roll a character in this mode, we have also created specific Leaderboards for Solo Self Found. These Leaderboards function like those for other modes.”
It really irks me to see that Activision Blizzard is only doing this because Diablo IV is out and Diablo III, most likely, is no longer making enough money for the company. I like how they made sure to remind players who they will be missing out on if they play this mode. They even went so far as to rub salt in the wound by acknowledging that players wanted this for years. Yet, even worse, this isn’t even an offline single player mode. Especially if there are leaderboards involved. So, nothing has really changed. Except that you can finally play the game by yourself.
Though make sure you are connected to the internet, otherwise you won’t be able to play! Since it still makes sense to have always-online DRM for a single player campaign.
But hey, you get what you paid for. I’m sure everyone is enjoying Diablo IV and its money-grubbing, anti-consumer experience. However, you know what is even worse than this pathetic ploy by Activision Blizzard and Diablo 3? That there are more horrendous things to boycott Activision Blizzard over than being anti-consumer with its always-online DRM or attempts to siphon as much money away from consumers.
After all, Activision Blizzard showed its support for Chinese interests by punishing players who voiced support for Hong Kong and even went so far as to censor American citizens. They also have fostered a hostile, sexist working environment and, the most recent problem is that Activision Blizzard is pro-child grooming. Then there is the real money auction house that was a greedy move by Blizzard which eventually removed.
So keep giving your money to a company that is devoid of morals, doesn’t care about you as a consumer, and doesn’t care about children in general.
But you go ahead and enjoy that Solo Self Found mode for Diablo 3!
At least I was right in saying that Diablo 3 was a turning point for Blizzard where a once-great developer no longer cared about its consumers.
What a shame…
For the video game industry, as a whole, it has been at the point where a game’s lifespan is now determined by how long a company decides to keep the servers running.
As the saying goes, “You will own nothing and be happy.”
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