Couch Co-Op on console = Legal multiboxing?

PC General Discussion
1

Diablo 4 is completely cross-play. You can use your account on all platforms to switch between and continue your progress on your PC. With the account you use on consoles, you can continue using on PC. So when you couch co-op on consoles, aren’t you really leveling 2 characters at the same time, just like someone multi-boxing on PC?

So if i want, i can get a friend and play D4 on console and level 2 characters at the same time on the same account and then go over to play them on PC?

If this is the case, it gives “power leveling” a whole new dimension. :joy: Not to mention, it will be a new form of legal “pay2win”.

EDIT: Looks like you need 2 accounts to couch co-op on consoles, so its not a problem.

2

Low effort post, is low effort.

1 Like
3

Why though? (You are one to talk lol.)

I mean, i may be completely wrong and they have made it so you cant use the couch co-op characters on PC.

4

Correct me if I am wrong here as I don’t own the console version. but doesn’t couch co-op still require that each character comes from their own account? You aren’t loading up 2 characters from 1 account.
This in my mind would be akin to having 2 battlenet accounts and you multibox your computer which might be playing fast and loose with the terms of service is probably not actually breaking any of them.

2 Likes
5

I highly doubt you need 2 accounts to couch co-op. But if thats the case, its not an advantage anymore. They blocked couch co-op on PC.

6

Holy crap you just gave me an insane idea. You can actually use the second character to reset instances for you. Log them in, invite to group, go into dungeon, leave group and log off, do dungeon, rinse repeat.

2 Likes
7

Lol, imagine if playing on consoles is the way to go? I might need to get it for my PS5 which incidentally is in the same room as my PC.

1 Like
8

You do need two accounts.

9

Do you have a source where they say that explicitly?

1 Like
10

We can’t include links to outside articles but a google search for Diablo 4 couch co-op results in an article stating the following:

To play Diablo 4’s local co-op on the PS5, you’ll need to have two separate PlayStation accounts logged in. This will allow both players to connect to Blizzard and eventually play the game together.

And another article stating the following:

On all consoles (PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X/S), you can get another player to join you in the Diablo 4 Open Beta via couch co-op play. Yes, you can start up your console, give a second controller to a like-minded demon slayer, and fight the hordes of the Burning Hells on one screen.

For the Diablo 4 Open Beta Early Access weekend (March 17 at 9 a.m. PST to March 20 at 12 p.m. PST.), one player will need to have access to the beta by pre-ordering the game. The other requirement is that the second player needs to have their Battle.net account and console-specific accounts linked.

1 Like
11

Yeah, I couldn’t find a direct link to any blizzard statement either but with so many articles on it, it’s hard to find the original these days.

Best I can find is a eurogamer interview
"So I was looking on the Diablo Subreddit to see people’s general reactions, because that’s a good gathering place for them, and one note I saw mentioned couch co-op and how it was a console-only feature. Firstly, is that right?

Rod Fergusson: That’s right.

And this person then wrote an impassioned post about couch co-op and the salient point seemed to be that why was a series that originated on PC now lacking an additional feature that consoles get?

Rod Fergusson: It’s a technology question. Trying to do shared-screen co-op on PC is much more challenging when it comes to account management and how you play together.

Why - how is it different from console?

Rod Fergusson: Well, console is pre-set up for that in terms of the ways you can associate the accounts to it.

Oh I see.

Rod Fergusson: And it’s been that way… Having split-screen or shared-screen co-op on consoles [has existed] for a long time.

Because those systems allow multiple users to be signed in?

Rod Fergusson: Right, exactly. Whereas trying to get two Battle.net accounts signed into the same PC at the same time… It’s a technology problem.

And the notion of two people sitting together at a desk: when you prioritise the problems you have to solve, solving for two people sitting at a desk, playing on the same PC, is lower priority when the majority of couch co-op that’s going to happen is going to be in front of a sixty-five-inch TV.

Is it a solvable issue?

Rod Fergusson: Um, not sure. I’d have to talk to our TD [technical director]. I don’t know if it’s a game-solvable issue. It might be a platform-solvable issue but I didn’t know that it’s a game-solvable issue, like [with] support from other aspects like Battle.net. I think there’s more tech that has to happen."

12

Weird, never heard of a game that require you to have two Playstation accounts to co-op at a game. But it makes total sense since the game is completely cross-platform, meaning you can use your Battlenet account with the same characters on all platforms.

13

But can you couch co op with other players? Or is it just going to be just two players on screen at all times?

14

I for sure don’t know the logistics of how it would work. But it seems that it is a non-issue.

I can’t really be buggered to do it but I could achieve the same thing by dual booting my PC and having 2 battlenet accounts then teaming up in game. Way more hassle than it seems and unless you are bleeding edge competative in a game that doesn’t yet have that kind of community is a super waste of time.

15

In the open world you will still meet players.

16

You and your friend could play using the same Diablo IV license because the PS5 will give the license to all PSN accounts on the console through gameshare, but you’d still require separate battle.net accounts as far as I’m aware. You’d also have to buy 2 more copies of Diablo IV for both battle.net accounts to use the characters on PC.

17

Xbox does the same thing, if one user owns it and another one is signed in, that user can play the games as well. That’s how I cash in the 1$ for 1 month gamepass promo when I want to try something on gamepass :stuck_out_tongue:

18

Yes you do. I’ll see if I can find the post but during the beta they allowed couch co-op without licenses, but did say come launch each player will need to have their own registered copy of the game

19

havent played classic wow eh? that is exactly how it worked there. It was considered an exploit, but so minor that blizzard decided to overlook it. Albeit they tried to make it more difficult tho, now it only works with a full party.

20

Oh no, I did, I remember when they did it to DM. The thing with this though is you do not need to buy a second license to accomplish this. You can just create a second character that logs on and off with you as you need to reset.