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UPDATED: Belgium investigating loot boxes as gambling, will seek to have them banned in Europe

Deleted member 1378

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UPDATE:

ZhugeEX said:
Another article saying nothing has been decided yet.

https://www.rtbf.be/info/medias/det...rs-battlefront-ii-de-jeu-de-hasard?id=9769751

Only a statement of minister of justice that the investigation into it is ongoing.

Basically don't expect anything to happen any time soon and not until proper procedures have been followed. This could very easily not go anywhere.
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ORIGINAL:

http://www.pcgamer.com/belgium-says..._source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer-pcgamertw

Last week, Belgium's Gaming Commission announced that it had launched an investigation into whether the loot boxes available for purchase in games like Overwatch and Star Wars Battlefront 2 constitute a form of gambling. Today, VTM News reported that the ruling is in, and the answer is yes.

The Google translation is a little sloppy, as usual, but the message is clear enough. "The mixing of money and addiction is gambling," the Gaming Commission declared. Belgium's Minister of Justice Koen Geens also weighed in, saying, "Mixing gambling and gaming, especially at a young age, is dangerous for the mental health of the child."



Geens, according to the report, wants to ban in-game purchases outright, and not just in Belgium: He said the process will take time, "because we have to go to Europe. We will certainly try to ban it."

And now, things will start to get interesting. I've reached out to the Gaming Commission for more information, and will update if I receive a reply.
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weeeeew
 
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Deleted member 5491

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Brofield

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Get this ball rolling in North America with the ESRB please. This is a good first step that someone has their head on straight
 
Spartancarver

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Objectively correct.

And if EA puts them back into BF II, then Disney will again be supporting gambling aimed at children.
 
MrNewVegas

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If the US declares them as gambling I believe they are immediately illegal based on the UIGEA of 2006.
 

KoolAid

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Oct 25, 2017
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Outright banning them might be too much, but they gotta control them.

(also, games will still have loot boxes as devs will go through loopholes like overwatch already does in china)
 
signal

signal

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Oct 28, 2017
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Wonder how the people who think "its fine if they are just for cosmetics" or "Overwatch is an example done right" feel about this.

Also wonder if this will only be for paid games or f2p as well.
 

Deleted member 1041

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Average brain: This is good
Big Brain: This will be bad
Galactic brain: They will now simply and directly sell weapons as DLC and most games will become P2W
 

addik

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Oct 28, 2017
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Aside from Belgium giving us fries, waffles, and Selah Sue, I now have this one to thank them for! Très bien la Belgique!
 
GMM

GMM

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Will be really interesting to see the follow up discussion in the EU, this could have major ramifications for future monitization systems.
 
Doctor_Thomas

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Yes, Belgium. Well done.

Sadly, post-Brexit, the UK will probably only have games that use lootbox gambling.
 
Yung Coconut

Yung Coconut

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Oct 31, 2017
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I think this is a good thing. But game prices are also going to jump if this goes through.

How do we feel about $80 games? Haven't spent that much on a videogame since the SNES/Genesis days.

Edit: And all of the major publishers can thank EA for this. Thanks, EA!
 

Deleted member 10428

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Awesome! And the best think is that it pretty much only affects shitty companies with predatory schemes in their games.

How do we feel about $80 games? Haven't spent that much on a videogame since the SNES/Genesis days.

$80 games from EA and the companies trying to justify this crap you mean?
 
StrikeFirst117

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Oct 25, 2017
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Well that was a lot faster than expected, lets see what they manage to do with this now that it is going to Europe.
They need regulating not completely banning.
 
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spam musubi

spam musubi

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Oct 25, 2017
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Say goodbye to Hearthstone and Magic Online too, I guess. Belgium was never competitive in either anyway.
 
Musubi

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I don't know how they define their definition of gambling but... its not gambling.
 
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