It isn't a question of 'allowing' it. The intent was always to have cross version/platform compatibility, but before actually implementing the network infrastructure, Larian didn't want to confirm it, in case any technical issues cropped up.
There will be LAN support, as well as direct IP.
Thanks for that, I was fairly certain I remembered something about LAN support but couldn't remember if it was 100% confirmed or if it might not end up in the full game or whatever so I didn't want to speak out of term.
