Blizzard is no longer manufacturing or selling physical authenticators and fans are slightly perturbed at the lack of an official announcement. Blizzard is no longer manufacturing or selling physical authenticators and fans are slightly perturbed at the lack of an official announcement. Authenticators were a popular device used to protect your Battle.net account before 2-factor authentication was even a standard feature. Now that a mobile app serves the same function, Blizzard has unceremoniously discontinued the authenticator fob. The news comes from a Blizzard customer support employee known as Kalviery . Kalviery explained that while the physical authenticators will continue to work and be supported by Blizzard, new authenticators can not be purchased on Blizzard's website any more. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY Created in 2008, Authenticators are a small, waterproof device about the size of a fun-size candy bar meant to be attached to a keychain. The device has a button that when pressed displays a 6 digit code on the tiny display. The code is then entered into the battle.net client to ensure that the person signing-in owns the account. The original cost of the device was $6.50, but are now The authenticators came in a variety of designs and for many years Blizzard sold an exclusive authenticator each year at Blizzcon. 2010 saw the release of the Blizzard Authenticator app on iOS and Android which provided the exact same service without the need to purchase a physical device. Over the years the popularity of the physical authenticator has dwindled by as vulnerabilities are discovered in 2-factor authentication, many are players are starting to feel that the physical authenticator is still the way to go. Unfortunately Blizzard has moved on, as Kalviery explains in the Blizzard forum: "We no longer manufacture, or offer physical authenticators. Sorry!" Forum users were taken aback, wondering why there wasn't an official announcement and asking Kalviery if the physical authenticators would ever return. "I don't have any information to share on that front :(" was all that Kalviery could offer. Despite being a cool collectible, the physical authenticators also offered a more reliable way to protect your account, assuming you don't lose it. As Kalviery explains: "I will strongly recommend (as will the app) that anyone using the mobile authenticator write down or otherwise save the Serial Number and Restore Code that are provided in the app. This is useful if you switch phones and forget to update your Blizzard account. The Serial Number and Restore Code will essentially “clone” the authenticator onto a new device. So, keep that information but also keep it safe! People switch phones all the time, so there is a huge potential to get locked out of your account if you don't take the proper steps. Not so with the physical device, it's too bad they're no longer offered. READ NEXT: