Diablo III website announced that the auction house will be removed in the game's new update. The Auction House, as the name suggests, functions as a hub where players can trade and sell their items, including using real money via PayPal. The feature will be disabled starting March 18, 2014. Blizzard stated that it will release further details regarding the shutdown later.
Watch the explanation video:
[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijCgKciMIE4#t=91″ width=”560″ height=”315″]
“When we implemented the auction houses, the goal was to provide a safe and convenient system for trading,” the statement said. “But it became increasingly clear that this ruined the core gameplay: defeating monsters and getting cool items. Therefore, we decided to remove the auction house.”
Diablo III recently received PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, and according to Blizzard, the console versions already come with the Auction House feature disabled by default. Meanwhile, the game's first expansion, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, is also in production, with a release date scheduled for the end of next year.
