World of Warcraft will no longer allow organisations to offer several “non-traditional” services in the MMORPG, including boosting, matchmaking, and escrow. The ban extends beyond organisations who offer these services in exchange for money, and includes those who accept gold as payment.

Blizzard says the new policy does not prohibit individual players or guilds from offering in-game items or services for gold by using the available tools in World of Warcraft, such as the trade channel chat. The company appears to be mainly targeting larger organisations that operate across multiple realms and that are “excessively advertising non-traditional in-game sales” that are “contrary to the terms and conditions of the Blizzard end-user licence agreement”.

Accounts that Blizzard determines are in violation of the new policy can be subject to sanction, which includes anything from a warning to permanent account closure, according to a statement posted to the official WoW community forums January 31. “We urge all such organisations to cease doing business in World of Warcraft immediately, in order to maintain uninterrupted access to the game,” it concludes.

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