by Stacy Jones on Aug 04, 2011
Blizzards decision to require a persistent online connection to play Diablo III may not be so much to prevent piracy as to protect its new real-money auction house. At least thats what Runic Games CEO Max Schaefer believes.
Speaking with Eurogamer, Schaefer explains that Blizzards tight restrictions for the game may be aimed at securing the integrity of the economy.
We fully understand why they're doing what they're doing. They've kind of gone the opposite way we have with an open game and modding tools and stuff like that, whereas they want to have an absolutely secure economy and preserve the complete integrity or at least try to preserve the complete integrity of the gameplay.
Schaefer does question why there isnt an offline mode available given that it could easily be separated from the online characters, but is happy that it provides Runic Games upcoming game, Torchlight II, a further distinction from its competitor.
Learn more about Diablo III from our recent coverage.
Source: Eurogamer