The one feature that troubled the South Korean ratings classification board has been removed for Diablo III - at least for the version being released in that region. The board was concerned that being able to receive real money from the auction house, effectively allowing players to "cash out", constituted online gambling.
"Committee members are conflicted about what to do with Diablo III because of Blizzard’s information on the game’s “auction house” feature," a spokesman for the board related a few days ago. The board also revealed that “the feature involving for-cash trades between users was not included in the presentation to the rating committee, and therefore it was not subjected to any scrutiny."
The removal of the real-money aspect to the auction house has apparently allowed the board to give Diablo III a rating, as the official site shows it has received an 18 rating. The real-money auction house feature will be retained in games released outside South Korea.
Perhaps this will let Blizzard announce a worldwide release date for the highly awaited action-RPG.
