Diablo III Submitted for Rating In Korea with Full Auction House Despite Risk of Denial

Giuseppe Nelva December 11, 2011 11:00 AM EST

According to several South Korean media sources the local branch of Blizzard Entertainment submitted Diablo III for certification to the Korean Game Rating Board, including the controversial real money-driven Auction House, despite the media storm caused by the possibility of the game being denied certification as the feature could be associated with a gambling activity.

The Chief Operating Officer of Blizzard Entertainment Paul Sams already addressed the issue during the latest edition of Blizzcon.

In addition to this Blizzard Entertainment Korea reportedly released a statement maintaining that, while the outcome of the deliberations on certification is difficult to predict, Blizzard wants gamers from every country to experience the same features in their games. That’s why the game has been submitted for certification with the full Auction House.

Normally the certification process for games in South Korea takes about 15 days, but a source from the Game Rating Board didn’t exclude the possibility that Diablo III could take longer, due to the discussion about the Auction House and the implications of gaining random items that can then be resold for cash.