Home Major item-duplication exploit shuts down trading in Diablo IV — again

Major item-duplication exploit shuts down trading in Diablo IV — again

tl;dr

  • Blizzard disabled trading in Diablo 4 again due to an item duplication exploit that threatened the in-game economy.
  • The exploit involved rare items being sold in bulk for low prices, leading to concerns about leaderboard manipulation.
  • Fans are frustrated by repeated trading disruptions, as the current season faces ongoing issues without a clear resolution.

Blizzard Entertainment has had to deactivate trading at the beginning of another season, again, to deal with an item duplication exploit that threatened to flood the game’s economy with tons of rare items and materials.

News of the dupe exploit seemed to originate from a livestream out of China where a streamer was showing rare items like Stygian Stones, which ordinarily command eight-figure prices in-game, being sold in bulk for a low-millions price.

Blizzard quickly stepped in and shut down all trading. Per Adam “PezRadar” Fletcher, Diablo 4’s community manager, trading was stopped “while we investigate a possible duplication issue.

“We apologize for the disruption and will provide updates on when we will have trading available again once we further investigate and identify any issues we need to resolve,” he added.

As Diablo streamer Rob2628 pointed out Wednesday afternoon, “[W]e [have] had a duple exploit ruin the trading economy every season now.”

Fans on Diablo 4’s official forums said they are getting tired of dupe exploits bringing down a common function of the loot-based game.

“When is this going to get fixed?” demanded one. “If you can’t fix it, then just diable it or switch back to D3 format. At least then you will eliminate the [real-money trading] that is rampant through the game that you guys can’t fix as well.”

How item duplication ruins more than Diablo 4’s economy

The same poster pointed out that one of the aggravating factors in this latest duplication exploit is the fact that some materials (Stygian Stones, specifically) summon the game’s toughest bosses — bosses that deliver the biggest rewards when defeated. With materials flooding the market at rock-bottom prices, it’s a cheap way to grind one’s way up the Gauntlet Leaderboard, so the impacts reach beyond just wrecking the in-game economy.

As of the time of writing, trading was still disabled in Diablo 4, with no further word on when it might return.

Diablo 4’s current season, season 5 — the Season of the Infernal Hordes — began Aug. 6 and will be shorter than usual, making way on Oct. 8 for the major Vessel of Hatred expansion that was announced at Xbox Games Showcase in June.

Featured image via Blizzard Entertainment

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Owen Good
Gaming Editor (US)

Owen Good is a 15-year veteran of video games writing, also covering pop culture and entertainment subjects for the likes of Kotaku and Polygon. He is a Gaming Editor for ReadWrite working from his home in North Carolina, the United States, joining this publication in April, 2024. Good is a 1995 graduate of North Carolina State University and a 2000 graduate of The Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, in New York. A second-generation newspaperman, Good's career before covering video games included daily newspaper stints in North Carolina; in upstate New York; in Washington, D.C., with the Associated Press; and…

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