Diablo 3 real-money auctions accessible only with authenticator

It seems that the long awaited Diablo 3 real-money auction house will finally become a reality, as Blizzard has changed its Terms of Use to make all players who want to access it require to have a Battle.net Authenticator or Battle.net Mobile Authenticator attached to their Battle.net account.

“With the introduction of the real-money auction house, account security will become more important than ever. To help ensure that players have a positive experience when using the real-money auction house, we’ve made some adjustments to how players can use and access their Battle.net Balance,” one of the community managers shared.

“This means you’ll need to have an Authenticator to add to your balance via Battle.net Account Management or to send the proceeds of your real-money auction house sales to your Battle.net Balance.”

The Mobile Authenticator comes in the form of a free app for Android and iPhone, while those who don’t use those devices will have to shell out $6.50 (plus shipping) for a physical authenticator. The authenticator generates a unique, valid only once, active for a limited time, 6-digit code that is associated with the account and functions as a second factor of authentication for users.

All this comes in the wake of claims that some Diablo 3 accounts were compromised despite the users utilizing the authenticator – claim that Blizzard recently disputed.

“While we understand that this creates an extra step for players during the login process, we believe this added layer of account protection will help foster a safer auction house environment for all of our players,” concluded the manager.

Given that real money will be involved, I’m sure everyone must agree.