In September, Blizzard issued a stern warning to StarCraft II players that engaged in cheating or the use of hacks. As you might expect, there are those who chose not to listen and this week Blizzard dropped the unholy banhammer on over 5,000 players for engaging in the use of cheats and hacks. In the official statement, Blizzard also pledged to continue monitoring Battle.net and will take action to curb cheating and hacking as needed.

We recently took action, including suspensions and bans, on over 5,000 StarCraft II players who were in violation of the Battle.net Terms of Use for cheating and/or using hack programs while playing. In addition to undermining the spirit of fair competition that’s essential to play on Battle.net, cheating and hacking can lead to stability and performance issues with the service. Maintaining a stable, safe, and secure online-gaming experience for legitimate players is a top priority for us, and we'll be continuing to keep watch on Battle.net and take action as needed.