14 DAY TRIAL // Developer Blizzard has launched a tough ultimatum to players who are cheating their way to victory in the multiplayer component of Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty, saying that all those who the company judges to be breaking the end user license agreement will be banned from the online component of the game, which is powered by Battle.net.
The official blog post says, “If a StarCraft II player is found to be cheating or using hacks or modifications in any form, then as outlined in our end user license agreement, that player can be permanently banned from the game.”
It goes on to add, “We strongly recommend that you avoid using any hacks, cheats, or exploits. Suspensions and bans of players that have used or start using cheats and hacks will begin in the near future.”
Multiplayer competitive matches are one of the most important elements of the Starcraft franchise and Blizzard has long sought to make them as attractive as possible to fans, releasing balancing patches for the original game long after it was launched in order to make sure that players were getting the best experience they could.
For Starcraft 2 Blizzard expanded the services delivered through Battle.net and made it easier for gamers to be pitted against others of similar skill, making the experience both more complex and easier to get into.
Blizzard has probably been banning the worst cheaters since the game came out but lately anecdotal evidence from forums suggests that more gamers are finding they are not competitive enough and turning to cheating to get into the higher leagues.
Blizzard is probably keen to get as many players as possible to stop, thus issuing the warning, but will not hesitate to kick out those players who do not comply with the end user license agreement.
At the moment Blizzard is working on the next installment in the Starcraft 2 series, called Heart of the Swarm.