Blizzard says it will start closing accounts of players who accept bought gold, not just sellers
A World of Warcraft forum post confirms Blizzard will "increasingly take action against buyers' accounts" for real-money gold, including removing the gold and closing accounts. It follows a WoW: Forever beta row over a streamer who kept his account.
Blizzard has restated its position on real-money gold in World of Warcraft, and the new part is who gets punished. In a post on the official WoW forums on September 28, community manager Kaivax wrote that while the company has "always actioned RMT seller's accounts as quickly as possible, we will increasingly take action against buyers' accounts."
What Blizzard actually said
The consequences are spelled out: "we will remove the illicit gold from the recipient, and/or take further actions, which can include closing accounts." Blizzard also asked players to be "very cautious when it comes to accepting gifts from strangers or other one-sided transactions," and set the standard it will judge them by - if it becomes apparent that a recipient "knew or should-have-known that gold wasn't from a legitimate source," they can be actioned too.
Blizzard says the crackdown applies to the WoW: Forever beta now and to the live game when Forever launches.
The row it follows
The timing matters because a high-stakes Classic dueling tournament is scheduled for October 17, and beta gold buys competitive advantages before it. Forum posters in the same thread Kaivax replied to argued that streamers were being handled more gently than ordinary players would be.
Why it matters
Punishing gold buyers is a much bigger lever than banning sellers, because sellers make new accounts and buyers generally do not. If Blizzard follows through, the risk calculation for anyone who has been quietly topping up changes for the first time in years.
Why it matters
Blizzard has spent two decades chasing gold sellers with limited success; going after buyers instead targets the demand side, and would change the risk for a large number of ordinary players.