The launch of Diablo III hasn't been as smooth as Blizzard would have hoped, but the developer's hoping to avoid major complications to the real-money Auction House that's due to arrive later this week by sprucing up in-game security.
In a post on the official Diablo forums, Blizzard has confirmed that gamers will require an official authenticator in order to add money to their Battle.net Balance, as well as to claim money from in-game sales.
"With the introduction of the real-money auction house, account security will become more important than ever. To help ensure that players have a positive experience when using the real-money auction house, we’ve made some adjustments to how players can use and access their Battle.net Balance," said the developer in a statement.
"Starting today, in order to add to your Battle.net Balance, players will be required to have a Battle.net Authenticator or Battle.net Mobile Authenticator attached to their Battle.net account. For clarity, this means you’ll need to have an Authenticator to add to your balance via Battle.net Account Management or to send the proceeds of your real-money auction house sales to your Battle.net Balance."
Blizzard states that "this added layer of account protection will help foster a safer auction house environment for all of our players," but a portion of Diablo III gamers have responded angrily to the fact that the Battle.net Authenticator isn't available for free.
Gamers wanting to make use of the real-money Auction House will be required to order the added security device at a cost of £8.99, though a free mobile alternative is available for users with supported smartphones.
