Diablo 3's ill-fated real money auction house can't be removed for just one mundane reason.

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Players who were around for the release of Diablo III in 2012 probably remember the auction house: a gameplay system where players could buy and sell in-game items for real money.

This feature was controversial from the start. But it didn’t go away completely until 2014. Now we know why. During a panel at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo (via PC Gamer), Diablo III’s lead designer Jay Wilson shared why it took Blizzard so long to get rid of the unpopular mechanics.

“The reason we didn’t get rid of it immediately when we saw it was a problem. It’s because we didn’t think we could because it was advertised on the box,” Wilson said. “So we spent a lot of time trying to resolve all the legal issues before we said, ‘Okay, we think it’s worth it. to try If we get the case, oh well.’”

Wilson also noted that auction houses weren’t very popular, saying, “If they make more than 10 or 15 million, [dollars] I’d be surprised. It looks like a lot of money, but WoW probably does it every 10 seconds. It’s not very popular.”

Blizzard revealed the player-driven auction house of Diablo III in 2011. Nearly a year and a half after its launch, Blizzard finally announced that the auction house would close. The service eventually ended in March 2014 with Blizzard admitting that the mechanic had undermined Diablo points.

The removal of Diablo III’s auction house mechanics brought about big changes for the game. Blizzard finally introduced a “Loot 2.0” system that balances the drop. This makes the player experience much better. This led to the well-received Diablo III Eternal Collection and pushed Diablo III onto our list of great comeback games.

Diablo faithful are now waiting for Diablo IV, coming to Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, and PC next year. Thankfully, Blizzard has confirmed that players won’t be able to. “Pay for Energy” in upcoming games This is a problem that makes Diablo Immortal present on the franchise’s mobile phone. For more on Diablo, check out Blizzard’s upcoming plans for the Diablo 4 beta.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry working at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.