Microsoft isn't the only one swinging the account crushing banhammer just before the holiday rush. Blizzard has suspended an impressive 350,000 Battle.net accounts identified as using "third-party hacks" in both StarCraft and Diablo II. According to folks at Blizzard, this is on top of an additional 7,700 Warcraft III accounts getting the same treatment. We won't miss you, you cheating sons of bitches — no postcards necessary. The full warning statement and explanation for banning follows.
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.