Fans complain about lackluster controller support for Diablo 4

Indeed, the direction Blizzard went with Diablo 4 is perplexing. Other big-time MMOs and multi-platform co-op titles, from the latest Call of Duty titles to Final Fantasy 14, among others, offer the luxury of switching between control schemes in their games.

Then again, when you realize that this lack of native keyboard and mouse support extends to other Blizzard titles, namely Overwatch 2, it's a sign of incompetence that extends to just more than a single development team.

It's a shame that Blizzard didn't capitalize on the success that Diablo 3 had on consoles. Even though Diablo 3 didn't support platforms outside the PC at launch, Blizzard did an excellent job bringing the experience to consoles post-launch. You could argue that all Blizzard had to do was do the same for Diablo 4 and be done with it. Instead, Diablo 4 is a step back compared to Diablo 3 in terms of controller support, regardless of whether you're playing on a console or PC. This inherent disadvantage due to controller preference is even worse in PvP, one of Diablo 4's selling points for those looking for endgame content.

To make matters worse, certain skills appear to be less effective if cumbersome to use on controllers, further highlighting the design bias towards keyboard and mouse users.

Between Path of Exile and Diablo 3, Blizzard had plenty of material to draw from to make sure that Diablo 4 had an intuitive controller scheme right from the get-go. Instead, it has left the community seeking resolution and equality across multiple platforms.

While the lack of controller parity isn't a game-breaking Diablo 4 issue, it's a quality-of-life problem that might affect the long-term success of the game.

Gamers can only joke so much about the first few seasons of Diablo 4 being a beta test before they get tired of being in it. Here's to hoping that Blizzard finally gives the Diablo 4 community the version of the dungeon crawler that it deserves.