Diablo III drops team deathmatch plans
Duelling support scheduled for next patch
Diablo III players have been waiting for PvP ever since Blizzard dropped it from release, pleading for patience as the competitive modes just weren't up to snuff yet. Soon fans will get to duel their fellow loot-ridden player characters, though the main event has gone back to the drawing board.
"[I]n continuing to develop [team deathmatch], playtest it, and put it in front of other developers within the company, we've found that it falls short of our expectations for a high-quality Blizzard experience," said Diablo III lead developer Jay Wilson in a news post. The mode has been demonstrated several times with positive player reactions, he said, but it just didn't have enough long-term appeal after the novelty of smacking each other with giant swords and fireballs wore off.
Wilson said team deathmatch's replacement modes will "feel more appropriate" for the game by playing up class strengths, objectives, and potential PvE rewards. Whenever those modes release, they will be free.
Bloodthirsty players will get duelling support as a consolation prize in patch 1.0.7, which is scheduled for sometime after the new year.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.
"Even Baldur's Gate 3 became so good because of Early Access," which is why the Dead Cells devs are using the same trick for their roguelike Prince of Persia
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies says they don't talk about previous Doctors on set as "it's more exciting to look forward"
Oh, that's why the Stellar Blade devs were terrified by demo players: one fan's spent "about 60 hours" maxing Eve's skill tree before the action RPG is even out