Ultimate Evil Edition for PS4 and Xbox One

On August 19, 2014, Blizzard released Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – Ultimate Evil Edition and closed a gap that had been open since the PC launch in May 2012 and the Reaper of Souls expansion in March 2014: a complete, console-tailored all-in-one package of the action RPG. The bundle launched simultaneously for the then-next-gen platforms PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as the previous generation PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. For the first time, a single release combined the entire base game with the full expansion – an all-in-one package for anyone who would rather comb through Sanctuary from the couch than at a desk.

The Backstory: Diablo III on the Couch

That Diablo III worked on consoles at all was anything but a given in 2013. The series had always been a mouse-and-keyboard experience – click the ground to move, click an enemy to strike. In September 2013, Blizzard took the leap with the first console version for PS3 and Xbox 360 and designed an entirely new control scheme for it: direct movement via the left stick, attacks on the face buttons and – as a decisive innovation – a dodge roll that never existed on PC. That first console version, however, only contained the base game up through Act IV and level 60. The Ultimate Evil Edition built on this proven foundation and brought it up to the standard of the now-released expansion.

Within a single year, an experiment had become the definitive way to play Diablo III – for many, even better than on PC.

What Was in the Box

The Ultimate Evil Edition bundled everything PC players knew up to that point and brought it together for consoles:

• Act V plus the full base-game Acts I through IV
• The fifth class, the Crusader, with his heavy shield and holy magic
• Leveling all the way to level 70, including the reworked, now uncapped Paragon system
• Adventure Mode with Bounties and Nephalem Rifts – the heart of the endgame
• Reworked Legendary loot with build-defining effects, new crafting options and the Mystic as the third artisan alongside the Blacksmith and Jeweler

Console players effectively got the same feature set as the PC – but without the by-then-shuttered Auction House. That feature had been permanently closed on PC in March 2014 because it undermined the sense of reward: instead of hunting for loot themselves, many players simply bought their gear. The console version never had this problem and committed fully to the reworked loot system Loot 2.0, in which items drop more targeted and class-appropriate.

Next-Gen Power: 1080p at 60 fps

The big leap over the old consoles was the technology. On PS4 and Xbox One the game ran at native 1080p and 60 frames per second – smooth enough that even screens crammed with monsters, spell effects and flying loot never stuttered. The old consoles still had to make do with 720p and at times fluctuating framerates; the next-gen version, by contrast, delivered sharper textures, longer draw distances and above all a rock-solid frame rate.

In a game where dozens of enemies swarm the player at once and readability is the difference between life and death, this technical stability was not a mere showroom argument but directly relevant to play. Exploring Sanctuary on a TV no longer felt like a compromise, but like a standalone, high-quality variant.

True Online Multiplayer

While consoles had always been known for local couch co-op with up to four players on one screen, the Ultimate Evil Edition finally added full online multiplayer. Up to four heroes could now slay together over the internet, close rifts and clear bounties – and it blended seamlessly with local splitscreen.

In practice that meant two friends on one couch could team up with two more players anywhere in the world, without the group being artificially split. This hybrid multiplayer solution was far from standard in 2014 and made the console version fully competitive with the PC release for the first time when it came to playing together. Shared loot, joint progress through Adventure Mode and the noticeably higher difficulty in a group created exactly the social dynamic that has always defined Diablo.

Console Extras and Crossovers

Blizzard gave the release several exclusive quirks that never existed on PC and added extra flavor to playing together:

• Loot tossing: Gear could be thrown across the party – perfect for handing teammates exactly the items they needed, instead of trading through workarounds.
• Nemesis system: When a friend defeated an Elite, a buffed-up Nemesis could invade other players' games and bring unexpected danger and generous loot there.
• Exclusive items: On PlayStation, players received themed gear from the world of The Last of Us – including a set named after Ellie and a recreated revolver. On top of that came further cross-platform crossover items such as cosmetic wings and pets.

These extras were more than mere gimmicks: loot tossing became a fixed part of co-op communication, and the Nemesis system brought a light but appealing online element into an otherwise largely cooperative game.

Critical Reception

The press and the player base received the Ultimate Evil Edition with consistent enthusiasm. Praise focused above all on the precise controller handling, the noticeably better loot feel without an Auction House and the sheer scope of the package. The console version was quickly regarded as one of the finest ARPG adaptations ever made – a reputation it holds to this day. The fact that Blizzard had continued refining the control concept since the first console version in 2013 paid off: the dodge roll gave combat its own, almost action-game-like rhythm that surprised many PC veterans.

The Bridge to Later Versions

The Ultimate Evil Edition was not an endpoint but a foundation. It proved that Diablo III not only worked on consoles but worked superbly – and thereby paved the way for the later Diablo III: Eternal Collection, which additionally integrated the Rise of the Necromancer pack and eventually even arrived on the Nintendo Switch. Many of the ideas introduced here, from the hybrid co-op solution to the polished controller layout, shaped the console design of the entire series and later flowed into Diablo IV in the form of well-considered controller support.

For countless players, this edition was their very first taste of Diablo III – and proof that the loot-driven carnage feels first-class on the sofa as well. Anyone looking back today at the console history of the series cannot get past this milestone from August 2014.