It's not exactly abnormal to see bugs in an Elder Scrolls game, but this one's special: an item-duplication bug has spread all throughout The Elder Scrolls Online, flooding the multiplayer RPG with illicitly-obtained items and gold.
This morning, developer Zenimax Online Studios announced that they were temporarily turning off the game's guild banks, likely in an attempt to halt the bug, which is activated by depositing and withdrawing stacks of items from those banks. The Elder Scrolls Online launched earlier this month for PC and Mac.
News of this exploit exploded early this morning thanks a big post that hit the front page of Reddit. "Some of you may already be aware, but a game breaking bug has hit ESO that allows characters to duplicate stacks of materials in their bank," wrote Redditor Mistress-Rarity. "It is so simple, in fact, that it is possible to do it by pure accident."
One player made a video to demonstrate the bug, which involves depositing and withdrawing stacks of items from a guild bank:
With guild banks disabled, that exploit is irrelevant now. A new patch changes the stacking functionality in guild banks, which could also help fix the glitch. And Zenimax says they've already banned thousands of cheaters and botters in The Elder Scrolls Online—though it's unclear how many they plan to ban now, or just how widespread this glitch has become.
The question now: how will they deal with all that duped money? We reached out to game publisher Bethesda for comment and will update should they get back to us.