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Activision Blizzard Account Lock and Forced Arbitration
On March 21, 2024, Activision Blizzard blocked access to Blizzard services, requiring customers to accept Forced Arbitration terms in the updated Blizzard End User License Agreement (EULA)[1]. In effect, customers were prevented from accessing their account (including games licensed to them) until they accepted these terms.
The EULA constitutes an example of a EULA Roofie.
Incident[edit | edit source]
When logging in to Blizzard services (using the Battle.net game client or Blizzard.com), a pop-up appeared asking users to review the Blizzard EULA and Privacy Policy. Dismissing the prompt would force the user to log out of their account. Doing so prevented access to all Blizzard services, with some users stating they could not access Blizzard Support.[2]
The new Blizzard EULA starts with the following clause in bold, binding users to Forced Arbitration:
THIS AGREEMENT CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER IN THE SECTION TITLED “DISPUTE RESOLUTION.” THIS AGREEMENT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO ANY “DISPUTE” BETWEEN YOU AND BLIZZARD AND MAY REQUIRE YOU TO RESOLVE DISPUTES IN BINDING, INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION, AND NOT IN COURT.
Users who reject the EULA have limited recourse in refunds:
IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO INSTALL, COPY, OR USE THE BLIZZARD PLATFORM OR GAMES. IF YOU REJECT THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT WITHIN FOURTEEN (14) DAYS AFTER YOUR PURCHASE OF A GAME FROM BLIZZARD, YOU MAY CONTACT BLIZZARD THROUGH https://us.battle.net/support/en/ TO INQUIRE ABOUT A FULL REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THAT GAME.
This clause would apply to any online services for games, such as Warcraft 3, which could be purchased as early as 2002.[3] Such purchases are far outside the 14-day refund window.
These clauses, as well as the legal actions they represent, are not new to the Blizzard EULA. Similar verbiage can be seen in previous versions of the EULA as far back as 2018.[4]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Blizzard End User License Agreement written by Activision Blizzard last updated March 21, 2024 Archived December 25, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
- ↑ New EULA dated March 21, 2024 a discussion on the public Blizzard forums under Starcraft 2 started by user Ecip-1680 https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/sc2/t/new-eula-dated-march-21-2024/28315 also Archived January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
- ↑ Wikipedia article on Warcraft III https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_III:_Reign_of_Chaos
- ↑ Blizzard End User License Agreement written by Activision Blizzard last updated June 1, 2018 Archived September 19, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
