How to permanently delete a Battle.net account

Deleting a Battle.net account isn’t nearly as easy one would expect.

Though digital services typically have users navigate through a menu and click “yes, I’m sure” a few times to delete their account, Blizzard’s process takes much longer and can be much more difficult. It isn’t impossible, though.

Starting the process is relatively easy and just requires users to check a few boxes. There are extra steps that can make things more difficult.

How to delete a Blizzard Battle.net account

1. Log into your account on the Battle.net website
2. Go to this page
3. Check the “I understand” box and click proceed
4. Provide scans of government-issued IDs, if prompted

Blizzard requires scans of government-issued IDs in some cases. This is done through the Battle.net website, where users are asked to attach an image file with a scan of the ID. Blizzard accepts standard government-issued photo IDs including driver’s licenses and passports.

This understandably causes concern among users, as it forces them to turn over even more personal information to a company they are clearly wary of. This policy stems from security concerns to ensure users cannot have their accounts hacked and made unrecoverable on a large scale. 

Though services such as Facebook let users deactivate their account and then re-enable it after a time as though nothing had happened, deleting a Battle.net purges all user information including name, email address, purchase history, and more. It is not clear how Blizzard determines whether a user must provide a government ID.

Why do people delete their Battle.net accounts?

The most logical reason to delete a Battle.net account is to clear personal information from Blizzard’s database. A host of gaming companies have had significant data leaks that have seen things like passwords and personal information be obtained by hackers. Deleting a Battle.net account allows those who are no longer interested in playing Blizzard games to keep their information safe.

Users have also taken to deleting Battle.net accounts in protest of controversial moves by Blizzard. This has ranged from the repeated mass layoffs at the company, to frustration over with the lacking effort the company put into the development of Warcraft 3: Reforged, to its sanctioning of Hearthstone player Ng “blitzchung” Wai Chung.

This isn’t necessarily an effective means of protest. Though it does inconvenience a handful of employees who handle user data, it does not actually trouble Blizzard to have users not playing games that they’ve already purchased.

Is it safe to give Blizzard my ID?

The answer to this question is “probably,” but one can never feel too safe when it comes to their personal information on the internet. Of course, the primary reason one would be concerned with deleting their Blizzard account is concerns over their personal information and the requirement for securing this personal information is to hand over even more personal information. Users have to weigh the risk and reward of this themselves.