Blizzard has finally caved in to the Korean ratings board, which would not approve Diablo III for release in South Korea due to concerns of gambling with the real-money auction house. In response, Blizzard has removed the real-money auction house from the Korean version of Diablo III.
According to the Korea Times [via PC Gamer] Blizzard gave in to the Korean rating boards committee request to have the real-money aspect of Diablo III removed so that they can continue forward with their simultaneous global release for PC.
A spokesperson for the ratings board stated 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."
It doesn't end there, though, PC Gamer believes that Blizzard could always implement the RMAH in a post-launch patch for Diablo III, which would then see the game come under scrutiny by the Korean ratings board committee, yet again.
The game so far has been stuck in the rating process over in South Korea for quite some time ever since rating board distinguished the real-money auction house as a potential way for Korean gamers to gamble. Technically, there is a lot of shady territory when you talk about putting real money into or taking real money out of a game.
Whether you're for or against the real-money auction house, the Korean gamers will not be experiencing it either way. I'm sure Bobby Kotick shed a tear over the news but probably went back to the drawing board for finding ways to make a billion dollars off of a game in under 17 days.
Diablo III has no confirmed release date other than being a 2012 release. You can learn more about the game and it's real-money auction house by visiting the Official Website.
