Starcraft 2 Beta Keys Sell Big on Ebay

One of Blizzards most highly anticipated sequel, Starcraft 2, has gone beta and millions around the world want in. Apparently video games are not above the world of scalpers and illegal selling. On Ebay it seems that Beta keys are selling for upwards to $300. That’s a hefty price for a beta code, but fans of Starcraft seem to be willing to pay to jump in on the testing of a very hot property.

Is this going to be a common occurrence? Purchasing data over Ebay is a risky business, that goes without saying. According to an article on 1UP, scalpers are selling codes from email invites from Blizzard, code cards from as far back as Blizzcon 2008, and it seems that thus far they’ve not been taking down. With prices averaging $300, one goes as high up as $950, but offers a few extras tossed in for good measure.

It almost seems like a desperate attempt for those shut out of the beta. Having that kind of money to burn over a beta key might seem silly to some, but those die-hard fans willing to pay it will. Could Blizzard deactivate those codes for being sold? Probably, and it will be interesting to see how things play out as those codes are sold. The penalty could come at a high cost, those that paid good money for the key, only to be deactivated.