An old saying goes – “no good deed goes unpunished.” This may be the one exception to the rule. Last month, Reddit user Khemist49 made the discovery of a lifetime when he stumbled upon a gold disc containing the original StarCraft source code, which came out almost twenty years ago. Let that sink in. Khemist49 discovered the rare find in a “box of Blizzard stuff” he purchased on eBay. He was understandably shocked when he came across the CD-R that read “StarCraft Gold Master Source Code.” Unsure of what to do with it, he reached out to Reddit where some people asked him to rip the disc’s contents and share it with them, while others assumed that he had stolen the disc from Blizzard.

After a few days of mulling things over, their legal team reached out to Khemist49 and asked him to return the StarCraft source code disc as it contained “intellectual property and trade secrets.” The Reddit user agreed to return the property, but not without having second thoughts about it. He felt that since he paid for it, it was his property.

“I was nervous and agreed to return it, but having second thoughts since I paid for it and feel as though it is my property.”

In the end, he did the right thing and returned the source code disc. For protecting the company’s trade secrets, Blizzard sent the Reddit user a free copy of Overwatch and $250 in Blizzard store credit. Though Khemist49 thought that was the end of it, the company wasn’t finished showing their appreciation for what he did. Later, a representative gave him a call and he was invited to BlizzCon for an all expenses paid trip, along with dinner and drinks with some of the staff afterwards.

“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.”

Blizzard also sent him a box full of goodies which includes special Overwatch-themed Razer peripherals and Diablo III loot. In an email conversation between Kotaku and Blizzard, the company confirmed the user’s story, stating that they “wanted to show an appropriate level of appreciation to the player for doing the right thing not just from them, but on behalf of the large and active community of players who still enjoy StarCraft today.” Good job, Khemist49, for doing the right thing and congratulations on all the cool loot!

So, what do you think about the story? Would you have returned the StarCraft source code disc had you been in Khemist49’s place? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to DFTG for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!