Blizzard showers gamer with gifts for finding and returning long-lost StarCraft source code

A Reddit user was handsomely rewarded by Blizzard after he returned the original StarCraft's Gold Maser Source code disc to its rightful owner.

About a month ago, Reddit user Khemist49 said he discovered the long-lost disc in a box filled with "a lot of Blizzard stuff" that he bought on the auction site eBay.

After posting his story on Reddit, many users pressed him to upload the files online. However, he said the decision over what to do with the disc was driving him "crazy".

"The CD is driving me crazy and I apologize if I came off the wrong way," he wrote. "People are either bashing me for owning it (I dunno why, not like I stole it) offering me money for it, calling me a douchebag for not releasing it, or threatening to tell blizzard I have it."

He said Blizzard contacted him directly with its legal team asking him to return the gold disc that contained "intellectual property and trade secrets". He decided to oblige and return the disc.

"I have spoken to Blizzard, the disc was in fact missing and believed to have been stolen," he wrote. "In all honesty, this is the right thing to do. If the disc fell into the wrong hands, it would not have been good for anybody."

Blizzard, in return, gave him a copy of Overwatch and $250 in Blizzard store credit.

In a gleeful post on Wednesday, the Reddit user said he got a phone call from a Blizzard employee asking him if ever heard of BlizzCon.

"I said well, yeah of course but it's impossible for me to go", he wrote. "I live in the east coast, and the badges are always sold out before you can refresh the page. 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."

"I didn't know what to say; I was shocked. I expected nothing more than the free game and the store credit."

He also received a big box filled with Overwatch and Diablo PC peripherals among other goodies.

Blizzard confirmed the story to Kotaku saying they "wanted to show an appropriate level of appreciation to the player for doing the right thing, not just from Blizzard, but on behalf of the large and active community of players who still enjoy StarCraft today".

In March, Blizzard announced a remastered version of the original StarCraft and its Brood War expansion with 4K visuals and matchmaking will be released this summer.