Blizzard Community Lead Warns Against Fake Diablo II: Resurrected Alpha Keys
By Jack O'Dwyer
A surge of fake Diablo II: Resurrected (D2R) alpha keys have the Blizzard Entertainment community on the lookout.
Blizzard employees are warning fans to watch out for fake alpha keys following its announcement regarding D2R alpha-test access chances. Adam Fletcher, Blizzard Community Development Lead, took to Twitter on Tuesday, March 2, to advise players against falling for "scams." In his thread, Fletcher went on to link an "alpha key giveaway" post from the D2R subreddit board, showcasing it as a "great example."
Here is a great example:https://t.co/Czl4vixAPc
— Adam Fletcher (@PezRadar) March 2, 2021
Blizzard Warns Against Fake Diablo II: Resurrection Alpha Keys
Unfortunately for Fletcher, his good advice didn't exactly earn him any points with the subreddit admins. He was subsequently banned from participating in or contributing content to the board—by the same admin user who posted the fake giveaway to begin with.
"A Community Development Lead at Blizzard said we're scamming people from....their 10 seconds... because they leave a comment here to join the giveaway, willingly... without any requirements. I personally just banned him permanently from the sub." They wrote.
The admin, Reddit user lordpermaximum, went on to publish an update edit on the same post, calling Fletcher a "lying employee" and stating they hoped Blizzard would terminate his employment "just like we ended his contract here."
It appears that lordpermaximum is banking on Blizzard giving a large number of keys to fan-based community resources such as influencers.
"If Blizzard won't ever give D2:R tech-alpha accesses to the media or streamers, whether in key forms or as account flags for Diablo II: Resurrected, we'll be proven wrong." They wrote, "But, if they distribute accesses to the media and streamers again, just like they have always done so far for all of their games, he will be the one that's going to be proven wrong."
The influx of fake keys and giveaways comes directly on the heels of BlizzCon 2021 where the Diablo team announced D2R will be released later this year. Ahead of this, players would have two opportunities to score an alpha-test key—essentially granting them early access.
According to Fletcher, the "best"—or, rather—only official way to get alpha-test access is through the Diablo website where fans can "opt-in" to receive a real key.