14 DAY TRIAL // Diablo 3 has been hit by a major exploit after the release of patch 1.0.8, which allows those using the online Auction Houses, either the in-game gold or the real-money one, to duplicate the amount of gold they have.
As a result, Blizzard has taken the auction houses offline until it finds a fix.
Diablo III may have been released almost a year ago on PC and Mac, but the dungeon crawling RPG is still quite popular, especially for those who make good money via its Auction House mechanic that allows items to be sold for either in-game gold or real-life cash.
Sadly, it seems that after the release of patch 1.0.8 earlier today, some players uncovered a major exploit within the game's Auction House.
Apparently, if a transaction is canceled before it's completed, the system causes a glitch that duplicates the amount of gold involved in the transfer, resulting in a drastic influx of currency in the game's economy.
This rapid inflation has caused a huge number of issues and many players are complaining about Blizzard's lack of action.
Now, the studio has confirmed to Kotaku that it's observed the bug and is working to solve the exploit. In the meantime, both Auctions Houses will be offline.
"After the release of Patch 1.0.8 this morning, we made the decision to take the gold and real-money Auction Houses offline to investigate a bug that certain players were exploiting to dupe gold. Our team is working hard to fix any outstanding issues and take appropriate actions with the accounts involved," the studio said.
"The Auction House services will be restored as soon as the situation is resolved. As always, maintaining a stable, safe, and fun gaming experience for legitimate players is a top priority for us, and we'll continue to monitor activity on Battle.net and take action as needed."
As of yet, there's no word on when the Auction Houses will go back online and whether a rollback will be made on the game's servers.