Calling them a form of gambling, the gaming commission of Belgium has effectively made loot boxes illegal in the country. This affects games like Overwatch, FIFA 18 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive which have been found to violate the country’s gambling laws by incorporating paid loot boxes.
As ruled by the Belgian Gaming Commission, paid loot boxes are actually a game of chance. Those who manage to buy them may receive a valuable virtual item or something completely useless. The reason that has affected the commission’s decision the most is that children – who form a large part of the audience of these games – may end up buying these loot boxes at some point, unknowingly participating in gambling.
The commission has asked the developers of the three above mentioned games to delete the paid loots boxes from their games or face penalties. Moreover, the punishments can include a five-year prison sentence for the game’s operators and a fine of up to 800000 Euros. The commission has also added that the punishments can be doubled if minors are involved.
Prior to this, the Netherlands had also decided to crack down on loot boxes. The country’s regulator has demanded that four games get rid of them before June this year. The whole debate over loot boxes had started after the release of Star Wars: Battlefront II last year which was marred by angry reactions from fans towards its microtransactions policy.
Also Read: OpenCritic wages war against loot boxes
EA had lost $3 billion in stock value since the arrival of this game. This led to several modifications to the game’s progression and economic system, but it also prompted regulators of various countries to look into the matter with seriousness.
There have been no comments from the makers of any of the three games rapped by the Belgian Gaming Commission.