World of Warcraft: Forever fans have worried about the potential of real-money trading since Blizzard first unveiled the new MMO during BlizzCon 2026 – but, thankfully, it appears that the studio is cracking down on it prior to the full release.
Now that the World of Warcraft: Forever Beta is out in full force, some players have begun to suspect certain content creators for engaging in, well, real-money trading for in-game gold.
The suspicions have risen to an all-time high after fans spotted the gold that Twitch streamer Ziqo ("ziqoftw" on the platform) supposedly accumulated naturally – or at least not via any illicit means – as he somehow boasted some 380 gold or so.
That's a lot… so much so, in fact, that it comes in at $200 or so in real-life money, as one user points out over on X (that is, if you use shady websites to purchase it – websites I will not be linking to here).
Yes, you can buy gold in WoW Forever. In a beta.380 gold, like @Ziqoftw traded, is $200. I call for a 12 months ban, including the tournament. @Warcraft promised us even 20 year old accounts would get banned. Keep your promise!September 29, 2026
Players immediately called for Ziqo and others they suspect like him to face in-game bans or some other form of punishment from Blizzard. In the words of the linked fan above, "I call for a 12 months ban, including the tournament."
They add that the developers "promised us even 20 year old accounts would get banned," referencing how Blizzard previously stated that World of Warcraft: Forever's economy is "something we're taking very seriously" – which, honestly, it seems it is.
That's because the studio did indeed take action against Ziqo, as a separate thread with a clip of the streamer attached points out. It actually took back his gold.
𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐙𝐈𝐐𝐎There has been quite the conversation recently about WoW streamer @Ziqoftw receiving large sums of gold on the Forever beta.As previously covered, Ziqo has maintained his innocence and even come up with some… pic.twitter.com/Vzi5mDQjJOSeptember 29, 2026
In it, Ziqo confirms as much, saying, "Blizzard did sweep up all my gold." He goes on to describe how "they cleansed it; they left me with nine silver," showing his inventory – and, yep, he's no longer rich… that's for sure.
So, there you have it, Blizzard is cracking down on fans likely engaging in real-money trading, and it's a welcome sight. Some players think the devs should be even more strict, though.
Comments show calls for "permabans" and the like – but Blizzard itself hasn't done so, as far as I can tell. Will they? Perhaps. They've been targeting inappropriate names recently as well, so it's not outside the realm of possibilities.
