Blizzard reacts to Diablo 3 Linux accusations

A number of Diablo 3 players have stormed the official forums complaining that Blizzard has banned Linux users.

According to these players, Blizzard has not offered a valid explanation for closing their accounts, in some cases listing "Unapproved Third Party Software" as the only reason.

A description of the offense reads, "A third party program is any file or program that is used in addition to the game to gain an unfair advantage. These programs may increase movement speed or teleport heroes from one place to another beyond what is allowed by game design. It also includes any programs that obtain information from the game that is not normally available to the regular player or that transmit or modify any of the game files."

Some players using a Windows Emulator (Wine) have reported similar problems.

Blizzard responded to the accusations today, telling Forbes, “Playing the game on Linux (although not officially supported) and/or using Wine will not result in being banned, but cheating will. We’ve extensively tested various scenarios related to this situation, including replicating system setups for those who have posted claiming they were banned unfairly, and have not found any situations where players were banned solely for using Linux or Wine.”

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