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Warcraft 3 Legacy CD Key removal - disallowing access for grandfathered physical media from play on battle.net: Difference between revisions

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DISPLAYTITLE
{{IncidentCargo
|Company=Activision Blizzard
|StartDate=2025-10-21
|EndDate=
|Status=Unresolved
|ProductLine=
|Product=Warcraft 3 Legacy
|ArticleType=Product
|Type=Broken Promise
|Description=
}}
CD keys for Warcraft 3 (2002) used to be redeemable on [[Battle.net]] for a copy of Warcraft 3: Reforged (2020). This grandfathered deal was discontinued on November 21, 2025.


==Background==
==Background==
    
    
<big>O</big>n October 21st, 2025, [[Activision Blizzard]] posted an announcement on the news section of their site declaring imminent discontinuation of redemption of unused legacy Warcraft 3 CD keys from purchased physical discs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Original Warcraft III keys expire on November 21st. |url=https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24241844/original-warcraft-iii-keys-expire-on-november-21 |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=Activision Blizzard}}</ref> The established fact of the revocation of unused legacy physical product key interoperability, compatibility, and redeemability with the Battle.net service platform. The denial is summarily stated in the announcement as in force after the deadline: November 21, 2025. Potential for grandfathered support from keys previously redeemed for their specific product is counter-indicated by the article's plain language.   
<big>O</big>n October 21st, 2025, [[Activision Blizzard]] posted an announcement on the news section of their site declaring imminent discontinuation of redemption of unused legacy Warcraft 3 CD keys from purchased physical discs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Original Warcraft III keys expire on November 21st. |url=https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24241844/original-warcraft-iii-keys-expire-on-november-21 |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=Activision Blizzard |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251222103316/https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24241844/original-warcraft-iii-keys-expire-on-november-21 |archive-date=22 Dec 2025}}</ref> The established fact of the revocation of unused legacy physical product key interoperability, compatibility, and redeemability with the Battle.net service platform. The denial is summarily stated in the announcement as in force after the deadline: November 21, 2025. Potential for grandfathered support from keys previously redeemed for their specific product is counter-indicated by the article's plain language.   


==Incident==
==Incident==
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===Scope===
===Scope===


Over a 4.4 million legacy customers of directly affected product lines beginning from initial release of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002,) and through subsequent release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (2003.) Additional figures beyond this point are not corroborated and this must be treated as a minimum threshold for scope of affected users.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warcraft III tops 1m sales in Europe |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/news050104war3 |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=Eurogamer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Warcraft III Shatters Sales Records |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/07/22/warcraft-iii-shatters-sales-records |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=IGN}}</ref>
Over 4.4 million legacy customers of directly affected product lines beginning from initial release of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002,) and through subsequent release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (2003.) Additional figures beyond this point are not corroborated and this must be treated as a minimum threshold for scope of affected users.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warcraft III tops 1m sales in Europe |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/news050104war3 |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=Eurogamer |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251123022847/https://www.eurogamer.net/news050104war3 |archive-date=23 Nov 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Warcraft III Shatters Sales Records |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/07/22/warcraft-iii-shatters-sales-records |access-date=2026-01-31 |website=IGN |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250905013734/https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/07/22/warcraft-iii-shatters-sales-records |archive-date=5 Sep 2025}}</ref>
 
==Consumer response and Blizzard-Activision's follow-up==


==Consumer response and Activision-Blizzard's follow-up==


Consumer responses in reply to the announcement tended to reflect skepticism or negative responses to the change. While unofficial alternatives do exist allowing for ad hoc play compatible with the affected titles, the sentiment reflected overall disappointment that players can no longer utilize the Activision-Blizzard services for online play, and reacquiring the software.
Consumer responses in reply to the announcement tended to reflect skepticism or negative responses to the change. While unofficial alternatives do exist allowing for ad hoc play compatible with the affected titles, the sentiment reflected overall disappointment that players can no longer utilize the Activision-Blizzard services for online play, and reacquiring the software.
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==References==
==References==
<references />
<references />
{{Ph-I-C}}
[[Category:Activision Blizzard]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warcraft III: Legacy physical media key mass invalidation}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warcraft III: Legacy physical media key mass invalidation}}
[[Category:Physical media]]
[[Category:Physical media]]
[[Category:Online services]]
[[Category:Online services]]
[[Category:Platforms]]
[[Category:Platforms]]
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