Diablo 3 PS4 won't feature Remote Play (but may in the future) [Update]

Though Blizzard would like to allow players to enjoy the upcoming PlayStation 4 version of Diablo 3 on their Sony-branded handhelds, the House That Warcraft Built sees the Vita's screen itself as reason to nix Remote Play functionality.

At this weekend's Blizzcon event, Gamespot asked senior level designer Matthew Berger about the possibility of Remote Play, and were immediately shot down. "The Vita is an amazing piece of kit, but the screen is still smaller," stated Berger. "And when you look at - and also it has its own aspect ratio - and when you look at Diablo 3, there's a lot happening on-screen already. You get surrounded by your enemies, lots of effects flying off in every direction. The inventory can be pretty complicated to navigate sometimes when you have lots of items."

Despite this, Berger says Blizzard is still considering the feature. "[Remote Play] would be a little bit more of stretch. It's kind of percolating in the back of our mind, but we don't really have any plans right now," he said.

Corroborating the eventual possibility of Remote Play is senior console producer Julie Humpreys. "[Remote Play] is something we are looking into," Humphreys told CVG. "I would say we are in the earliest stages of looking at that. We want to make sure that it is readable and is a good user experience."

Diablo 3 makes its PlayStation 4 debut at some point during 2014.

Update: Earlier today, Gamespot again asked Berger about Remote Play, and were met with a decidedly different response. "As long as PS4 supports Remote Play, [Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls] will support it," Berger said.

Update 2: Blizzard moved in to clear up confusion. The official Diablo Twitter account tweeted, ""Will Remote Play on the PS Vita be available for Diablo 3 Ultimate Edition on PS4?" The answer is yes, and it's awesome!" along with a photo of it in action.