For the most part, the console version of Diablo 3 is similar to the PC version of the game. Both games feature the same quests, same spells and abilities, same classes, and so on, with some minor changes here and there that shouldn’t really affect the overall game. In fact some might even argue that the console version plays much better.
That being said if there are two major features missing from the console version of the game, it would be Seasons and cross-system play. Seasons, for those unfamiliar, was introduced in Patch 2.1 and it’s basically Diablo 3’s version of the ladder system in Diablo 2. Speaking to the folks at GameSpot, Diablo 3’s lead designer Kevin Martens revealed the reason why Seasons would not be part of the console version of the game.
“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.” Martens also revealed that cross-system play is also something not possible at the moment. “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.”
In a way this hardly comes as a surprise as both Microsoft and Sony have long battled each other for exclusivity and have touted their online networks as a reason to play on their consoles, but for those who were holding out and hoping it would eventually be possible, sorry to disappoint.