Schaefer - Diablo III was originally intended as an MMO

Runic boss Max Schaefer has said Blizzard originally intended to develop Diablo III as an MMO. Speaking with Games.on.net, Schaefer, who was the executive producer on Diablo and Diablo II, also said he was rather pleased when he found out the studio would be implementing always-online and auction houses into the game. "[Runic] already decided we were kinda going the opposite way with that, " he said, "so when they came out with those announcements it was good for us because we could draw some distinctions between the two games." According to Schaefer, pre-sales of Torchlight II on Steam went up 40% the day Diablo III released, and have remained steady.