Blizzard denies banning players for using Linux

Blizzard denied allegations of banning Linux users from Diablo 3 for using Wine, and insists all bans were due to cheating, plain and simple.

A thread entitled "Banning Linux users for using Linux... really?" popped up yesterday on the official Diablo 3 forums wherein several users claimed they had been banned from the game simply for using Linux or Wine - software that allows Linux users to run Windows programs.

On the game's troubleshooting site it said, "Although our games are often playable on a lot of unsupported hardware and software configurations, these same setups will often block the system survey from completing its job." This could lead to users being unable to play for about a week. Many assumed that this "unsupported software or hardware" was messing with the anti-cheat systems too.

Blizzard recently issued the following statement denying these claims:

"We've extensively tested for false positive situations, including replicating system setups for those who have posted claiming they were banned unfairly. We've not found any situations that could produce a false positive, have found that the circumstances for which they were banned were clear and accurate, and we are extremely confident in our findings."

"Playing the game on Linux, although not officially supported, will not get you banned - cheating will."

When asked for further evidence, the community manager stated, "It's company policy not to discuss account actions with anyone but the account holder, or their legal guardian if applicable. It's an issue between us and them. Trust me, it'd be much easier on me to just post exactly what they did, but we feel it's important to honor the privacy of our customers, and that's a policy I personally agree with."