Diablo 3’s often criticised Auction House will finally be removed from reality by Blizzard tomorrow. It was effectively disabled back in March – when we gave the expansion a 9/10 in our Reaper of Souls review – but the Auction House window remained available so that players could retrieve items and gold from previous transactions.
As of tomorrow, that function will also be removed. And it will be gone for good. Any items and gold remaining in the Completed tab will also disappear for good; so empty it now if you’ve got anything in there.
Blizzard’s closure of the Auction House has been indicative of Diablo 3’s new direction, which included Loot 2.0 and Adventure Mode. The focus was once again placed on adventuring and hacking and slashing one’s way through countless monsters for prizes of loot.
It’s been a return to form for the series, making Diablo 3 worthy of the venerable brand. It’s unlikely that the Auction House will be missed. Even by Blizzard.
Last year, Mike Morhaime noted that when Diablo 3 was released on consoles, it was praised for the loot system and lack of the Auction House. “Players and critics alike have noted that these changes have resulted in a more fun and satisfying game experience,” said Morhaime. “That reaction factored in our decision to remove the auction houses from the PC version of Diablo III effective next March, which players have also responded very positively to.”