One of my friends needs a new one because her battery ran out. We can’t find them on the store at all. Are they restocking those or are they located somewhere else now?
They have been discontinued. Currently the only option is the mobile version.
Edit:
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Unfortunately, the physical units are no longer available. Sorry, Annoressta. If your friend has a mobile device available, including some tablets, etc… they may be able to use the Mobile Authenticator App.
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She’s downloading the mobile app as we speak.
Thanks guys.
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Are you authorized to share the reasons behind this decision?
What does it matter?
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I’m not part of marketing or item distribution or otherwise associated with the Gear store, so I am not really privy to that kind of information. Nor is it really information that CS would have in general. Sorry.
I should note that this isn’t a new development, the physical authenticators have been off of the shop for some time now.
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I have a theory - but it is just a theory.
The physical authenticators were made by Vasco. If you go to their website it is now a company called OneSpan. Blizzard has sold them for cost ($6.99) for many years likely based on a contract with Vasco. I would not be shocked if a company change led to a new contract negotiation. I also have friends who use them at work and the replacement cost if they lose it is $75. I can only assume the actual costs for them now are MUCH higher than they used to be. Any new contract would incorporate the increased costs.
So, would those still sell on the Blizz website at increased prices? Is there enough demand? Even if some portion of the playerbase ends up with no Auth, and even ends up compromised, is the cost of Support lower than the cost of a possible new Auth contract?
Totally speculation on my part. It would make logical sense though given the company change, the low number of players using the physical auth token, and the likely increased costs since the first contract in 2008.
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Just to clarify here - Vasco wasn’t brought out. The Onespan thing was a name change. So it’s stil Vasco tech and Vasco still offer their Digipass Go 6 authenticators.
Sure a company name change does warrant a renegotiation of the contract. But that was in November 2018. Have they been out of stock for that long ? Has Blizzard gotten new ones in since then ?
Honestly, not sure. I know that they have had trouble keeping them in stock for years though. So it honestly very well could have been that long. However my theory is that there simply isn’t enough demand to justify the continued expense of buying the volume that they probably had to buy to get them at the cost they were getting.
I know it is an edgey meme now used to make fun of Blizzard, but it is a fact that most people do have smart phones now a days, or at the very least a device that can run the mobile authenticator. Like I said before it is not beyond the realm of possibility that there simply aren’t a lot of people using the keyfobs anymore.
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I see. It’d be nice if they could share some insight into this decision that can only result in less account security. Oh well. I suppose when my key chain eventually dies, I’ll be without an authenticator.
Vrakthis, how long does Blizzard intend to continue to support the key chain authenticators?
Ideally an account holder shouldn’t need one. Account security is our responsibility, not theirs. Players are the ones who get compromised, not Blizzard
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There are no plans to not support the physical Authenticators, Skruffles.
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Thanks. That’s definitely reassuring.
Yes. We should keep our accounts secure. Authenticators are an important tool for that. I don’t think it’s a good idea to suggest authenticators are unnecessary.
Mostly true. But not always. Several years ago, Blizzard had a major data breach. It happens. They are not infallible. But to the point… account security is important and authenticators are very helpful. They are good for the customers to help maintain their security. And they are good for Blizzard to minimize the frequency of compromises and the subsequent effort they put in to clean up the impact.
It was not a major data breach. It was one database, it didn’t include any account details or passwords. It also was the only time in the existence of Blizzard that they have ever been breached. Also they aren’t getting rid of authenticators, please stop spreading that. They simply are moving from one kind of authenticator to another. If you don’t have any kind of personal device that can run apps in this day and age that is really on you.
Again my guess is that there simply aren’t enough numbers of people wanting the physical authenticators to justify the continuation of bulk ordering from Vasco. Blizzard doesn’t get them for free.
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I wouldn’t say we’re moving from one to another, both have been available for a very long time. One is currently no longer sold through our shop, but we’re still supporting them.
I think it might be prudent to end the discussion here. Thanks all.
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