Nearly a month ago, a lucky Redditor made a truly incredible find: a gold master source code of the original StarCraft from 1998.
Redditor Finds 'StarCraft' Gold Master Source Code
Initially, the Redditor wasn't sure if he was indeed holding the missing gold disc.
"Could this [b]e the missing Gold Disc? I purchased a lot off eBay with a ton of [B]lizzard stuff that appeared to be from a storage unit. This and a bunch of [B]lizzard games were in the unit," wrote Reddit user Khemist49.
The Story About The Missing Gold Disc
For those who don't know, the gold disc in question here is the one that went missing in 2000. A week before it vanished, Blizzard announced that StarCraft had gone gold, which is industry speak meaning the game has completed development, or simply put, finished. Just awaiting release. The gaming industry was shocked at the news of the missing disc.
Finding the CD drove the Reddit user "crazy." Other Reddit users advised him to archive the game in some way, and one user in particular urged him to submit the disc to the Video Game History Foundation, or the VGHF, a nonprofit organization which preserves video games. Others bashed him, called him derogatory terms for not releasing the contents of the CD online.
Blizzard Returns The Favor
Ultimately, however, he returned the disc to Blizzard, and it was evidently grateful to have it back — so grateful, in fact, that Blizzard gave Khemist49 his own copy of Overwatch Origins, $250 to spend on titles in the Blizzard store, and a package chock-full of valuable Blizzard goodies. But possibly the coolest reward Blizzard also handed him is an all-expense-paid trip to Blizzcon, in addition to dinner and drinks with Blizzard staff.
Khemist49 said that he contemplated on what to do with the disc, even seeking legal advice in light of his confusion. The user said he heard from the company's legal team directly, urging him to hand over the disc because it stored "intellectual property and trade secrets."
So he did. Then he figured that was it — no more gold disc, but in place of it was a store credit and a copy of Overwatch Origins. But he didn't know Blizzard was about to give him more. Not long after his previous correspondence with Blizzard's legal team, a company called him to ask if he's ever heard of BlizzCon.
Khemist49 has heard of it, obviously, but he said living in the East Coast made it impossible for him to attend, in addition to badges being sold out rapidly.
"He said 'well, the reason we are calling you is to invite you to BlizzCon, all expenses paid, and we would love to take you out for drinks,'" wrote Khemist49 in a follow-up post.
So for those of you lucky enough to find someone else's belongings, you should probably just return it. Sure, you might not get what Khemist49 got, but it always pays to be honest.
Thoughts about Khemist49's gold disc find? Do you think he made the right decision? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
