Blizzard Suspends a Streamer and Promises More Bans in WoW: Forever’s Gold-Buying Crackdown

Blizzard is tightening its grip on real-money gold trading in the World of Warcraft: Forever beta, and the first wave of consequences is already landing. A streamer has been suspended for openly asking his viewers to buy him gold, another had hundreds of gold stripped from his account over a suspicious trade, and Blizzard says both the policy and the enforcement are only getting stricter before the game launches on November 4.

A Streamer Suspended for Asking Chat to Buy Him Gold

According to GameSpot, WoW: Forever streamer Payo was suspended from the beta after telling his viewers on stream that he wanted them to buy gold with real money and send it to him. The clip spread quickly among players already frustrated with the beta’s gold-selling problem, and Blizzard acted on the account not long after. Other outlets describe Payo pushing back on how his comments were characterized, so the exact wording of what he said is disputed, but the outcome isn’t: his account was suspended over soliciting real-money gold from his audience.

The Skyborne, one of WoW: Forever’s new additions, debuted alongside the beta that’s now at the center of Blizzard’s RMT crackdown.

“We’ve Been Too Lenient,” Blizzard Admits

Blizzard has acknowledged its RMT enforcement hasn’t kept up with the problem. Senior game designer Josh Greenfield said in a recent Q&A that “we’ve been probably too lenient on gold buyers” in the past, and that the team is now leaning toward permanent account closures rather than the temporary suspensions it has relied on before. Community manager Kaivax reinforced that stance on the official forums, confirming that any account found generating, buying, selling, or receiving illicitly obtained gold risks losing that gold, a suspension, or a permanent ban, and that Blizzard will keep taking action as the beta continues.

Other Accounts Are Getting Caught in the Sweep

Payo isn’t the only name involved. Around September 29, streamer Ziqo had more than 500 gold stripped from one of his characters, leaving him with just a handful of silver, after receiving a large trade live on stream that Blizzard flagged as suspicious. There’s no public confirmation the gold was actually bought illegally, but Blizzard removed it as a precaution rather than wait for proof. The crackdown extends to game systems too: WoW: Forever is also banning GDKP, the practice of auctioning raid loot for gold, a format Blizzard considers one of the easiest ways real-money gold ends up changing hands.

The WoW: Forever beta runs through October 21 ahead of the game’s November 4 launch, and if Blizzard’s recent statements are any indication, players still buying or selling gold have a shrinking window to stop before the bans get permanent. For more on what’s testable in the beta right now, check out our breakdown of the WoW: Forever beta launch.

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Picture Source: Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment