Yesterday, Blizzard banned over 350,000 StarCraft and Diablo II accounts from Battle.Net, thereby bringing the total amount of users of the service down to around three billion. The bans were the result of Blizzard officially updating their ban policy in regards to players found using third-party hacks. These aren’t to be confused with second-party hacks, which are totally acceptable on Battle.Net.

The bans aren't permanent by any means. In a statement about the update (provided after the break), Blizzard noted that the accounts would be free and clear for more action after 30 days. If the person decides to continue using hacks, the accounts will be permanently banned.

All of you cheating in games that are over a decade old should be ashamed of yourselves. It’s ridiculous and hurtful to “legitimate players,” and more so to the integrity of the game. How dare you, cheaters. How dare you!

[via Kotaku]

StarCraft and Diablo II Battle.net Ban Policy Update

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.

The Diablo II CD keys associated with the closed Diablo II accounts are now restricted from playing on Battle.net for approximately 30 days. Repeat offenders will have their accounts closed and their CD keys permanently banned from Battle.net.

As a reminder, we reserve the right to close the accounts and ban the CD keys of players who are caught cheating on Battle.net. Cheating ruins the game experience for legitimate players, and we will not tolerate it.