A really tough measure

Nov 13, 2008 09:12 GMT  ·  By

Blizzard is one of the most popular game developers out there, largely due to the fact that its policy is to sell titles that offer deep stories and well polished experiences, with hardly any bugs or glitches that might ruin the game for the player.

The online server system of the company, Battle.Net, has withstood the test of time and it is still one of the most balanced online services, offering gamers the chance to play classic titles such as Starcraft, Warcraft or Diablo on the Internet. The service is currently getting ready for a major revamp, because two of the most popular franchises in the Blizzard portfolio, Starcraft and Diablo, currently have new versions under development.

Blizzard executives have already discussed the future plans for the Battle.Net online system and things like taxes on different services might appear in this new version. But now it seems that the company is already taking some major cleanup measures, as it has announced that over 350,000 Starcraft and Diablo II accounts were banned due to the use of third party software, which gave them an unfair advantage over the other players.

This big number of cheaters will have their CD keys banned for 30 days from the Battle.Net system and if they continue to cheat while playing these games online, they will receive a permanent ban from the Battle.Net online servers.

"As part of our continued effort to ensure a fair and fun online experience for all Battle.net players, we have expanded our efforts to remove cheaters from StarCraft and Diablo II. We have identified and closed over 350,000 StarCraft and Diablo II accounts which were found to be using third-party hacks. Cheating ruins the game experience for legitimate players, and we will not tolerate it," reads the official statement from Blizzard.

This is a very good thing as cheaters can always ruin things for people who choose to play the game as it was intended. Let's just hope that these persons have learned their lesson and this 30-day ban will convince them to play the game as they should, by the rules.