Blizzard announces WOW Authenticator

By Oli Welsh Published 27 June, 2008

Keychain security device for the paranoid.

Today's Blizzard news is that the company is to put an Authenticator device on sale to help keep World of Warcraft accounts secure.

Described as "lightweight and waterproof" - and attachable to a key chain - the Authenticator generates a unique six-digit security code at the press of a button. The code will only work with the account it's associated with, and will only work once. The code will be required at every login to the account, whether at the game client or the official website.

The Authenticator will go on sale for EUR 6 (GBP 4.75) at Blizzard's World Wide Invitational event in Paris this weekend. It will later be made available for purchase at Blizzard's online store at the same price, plus shipping.

It's intended to guard against the hacking and strip-mining of accounts that can and does happen, given that players' in-game currency and items have actual monetary worth - not to mention their worth in countless hours of dedicated play.

We're just about to pack our bags and leave for Paris for the Invitational, and we'll be bringing you news direct from the show floor tomorrow. The event kicks off with an opening ceremony at 11.45am (10.45 in the UK) at which we're almost certain to see a new game revealed, which is almost certain to be Diablo III. There will doubtless be new information on StarCraft II and WOW: Wrath of the Lich King as well. Keep your eyes on Eurogamer for the latest.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Azzuri #1 4 years ago

    Hmm... Not sure if I'd pay for one of these but if they bundled it in with the lich king expansion I'd probably use it.

  • Kingofnothin #2 4 years ago

    My account got hacked and everything was deleted, and I couldn't be bothered to carry on playing after that so I'm surprised that they aren't going to make this free of charge as I'm sure they could afford it and it would hopefully stop hackers from ruining the game for anyone else. Good idea although a little too late for me!

  • Colin8703 #3 4 years ago

    Shouldn't they provide it for free considering you have to pay a subscription fee every month?

    Cheers Blizzard, it's not like you can't afford it.

    10 millionish users all paying £8.99 a month = £89,900,000.00. How's your profit working for you?

  • Huntcjna #4 4 years ago

    Can you pick me up an authenticator?

    /waves tenner

  • anomagnus #5 4 years ago

    wow, its like a money train there these days

  • Benno #6 4 years ago

    "10 millionish users all paying £8.99 a month = £89,900,000.00. How's your profit working for you?"

    So so many people make this assumption and think they're alan fucking sugar. Get some theory of the firm skills.

  • bengray66 #7 4 years ago

    alan fucking sugar.

    What alan gets up to in his spare time is his own business. Regardless of his sexual tastes, so leave him alone!

  • oMonarca #8 4 years ago

    It's pretty cheap as a device of it's kind (just check the prices for similar security devices), and you only get it if you want to. If you believe you're pretty safe as you are, just ignore it.

    Besides, you are actually paying for an item, something that requires resources and manufacture.

    If they charged for an extra layer of security software, now that would give motives for grieving.

  • Andytails #9 4 years ago

    Grind-lite and overly popular jumping simulator gets a dongle under guise of aid when it is really a ploy to osmose money? Nah... never... These hackings are common but it's mostly people stupidly handing out details to "friends" or getting keylogged because their security is lacking. Square just increased security measures for free using external storage or software keyboards so there isn't really a need to charge.

    Does it stop everything looking like Disney slept with Tolkienn though?

  • rudedudejude #10 4 years ago

    How did it get hacked Kingofnothin? Did you have a really easy to guess password or something?

  • Ruuh #11 4 years ago

    This probably was their big announcement. Better than Diablo 3, I'd say.

  • Agent_Orange #12 4 years ago

    Hah dont forget it will kinda be a collectible item for the people that go there too :p

  • The_Aardvark #13 4 years ago

    Won't this be really useful for people wanting to sell their accounts? At last a way to properly transfer ownership!