Diablo III's in-game economy is in serious trouble tonight after users claim to have discovered an exploit in the game's latest update which lets them duplicate gold.
Seems a glitch is letting people cancel a transaction in the Diablo III auction house before it's completed, with the result that any money involved is doubled.
The game's forums are overflowing with users reporting/complaining about the exploit, calling for bans and rollbacks of the update as the instantaneous inflation is destroying Diablo III's economy.
We've contacted Blizzard for comment, and will update if we hear back. Until then, you're advised to not spend a cent of real money in the auction house until the mess is cleaned up.
UPDATE - Blizzard says it has taken the auction house offline and tells Kotaku it will "take appropriate actions with the accounts involved". Full statement below.
After the release of Patch 1.0.8 this morning, we made the decision to take the gold and real-money Auction Houses offline to investigate a bug that certain players were exploiting to dupe gold. Our team is working hard to fix any outstanding issues and take appropriate actions with the accounts involved. The Auction House services will be restored as soon as the situation is resolved. As always, maintaining a stable, safe, and fun gaming experience for legitimate players is a top priority for us, and we'll continue to monitor activity on Battle.net and take action as needed.
Gold Dupe on the RMAH? [Diablo]