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Lootboxes in FIFA now officially banned in The Netherlands by Dutch Government agency, classified as online gambling

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Aiii

Aiii

何これ
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Oct 24, 2017
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Dutch gambling authority, Ksa (Kansspelautoriteit), has been allowed by a judge to fine EA and their European subsidiary 250.000 Euro per week with a maximum of 5 million Euro (each), if they continue to use lootboxes in FIFA within 3 weeks from today.

Judge ruled that lootboxes are considered a form of gambling, despite EA appealing the Ksa ruling, stating that lootboxes can't be gambling because they are a small part of the game and they aren't real money or objects, only in-game items. Online gambling in Netherlands is subject to strict regulation and is not allowed without a permit.

Judge verdict (Dutch): https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2020:10428

Ksa statement (English): https://kansspelautoriteit.nl/nieuws/nieuwsberichten/2020/oktober/imposition-an-order/
In 2019, the Netherlands Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, Ksa) imposed an administrative order subject to a penalty of up to 5 million euros on Electronic Arts Inc. and Electronic Arts Swiss Sàrl each for violating the Gambling Act through its 'Packs' in the FIFA video game. The District Court of The Hague recently ruled in favour of the Ksa in this matter. The judgment was published today.

The Ksa imposed the orders subject to a penalty because the popular FIFA football game contained illegal loot boxes. These loot boxes are like treasure chests. The FIFA loot boxes, for example, would contain football players that could improve the performance of the team that the player was using to play the game. The players contained by the loot box are determined by chance, and the contents cannot be influenced. The fact that football players sometimes have a high value and that they can occasionally be traded constitutes a violation of the Gambling Act. Under Dutch law, a game of chance that allows a prize or premium to be won can only be provided if a relevant licence has been granted.

A study carried out by the Ksa in 2018 found that there may be a correlation between playing games that incorporate loot boxes and development of an addiction to gambling. Chairmen René Jansen: 'The Ksa believes it is crucial to shield vulnerable groups, such as minors, from exposure to gambling. For that reason, the Ksa supports a strict separation between gaming and gambling. Gamers are often young and therefore particularly susceptible to developing an addiction. As such, gambling elements have no place in games.'
Following the publication of the study, the Ksa called on companies in the gaming industry to adapt their games so they were no longer infringing the Gambling Act. A number of companies heeded the Ksa's call. However, Electronic Arts Inc. and Electronic Arts Swiss Sàrl did not.
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Astandahl

Astandahl

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Oct 28, 2017
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Deleted member 13077

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
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Knock on effect will be interesting. Will they remove the FUT mode entirely for the Netherlands? Seems like it's going to be hard to balance when only some countries have access to pay to win mechanics.
 
Faith

Faith

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Oct 25, 2017
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Good, these lootboxes in general are predatory as fuck and absolutely need to be heavily regulated, if not outright banned everywhere, hopefully sooner rather than later.
 
dunkzilla

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so what happens with FUT in these cases? is it just removed or do EA have an alternative?
 
Alvis

Alvis

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Oct 25, 2017
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Good. The sooner the cancer that are lootboxes and gacha disappears, the better.
 
Rynam

Rynam

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
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Wonder if they just go the Valve way and just show the contents of a box before you purchase it.
 
degauss

degauss

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Oct 28, 2017
4,631
Good news. Charging full price for that shit every year and they still expecting people to pay for virtual players via gambling is gross.
 
.exe

.exe

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Oct 25, 2017
22,270
EAt shit.

Good and hopefully this regulatory trend will expand across the EU.
 
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Zephy

Zephy

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Oct 27, 2017
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Gotta love EA "bu-bu-but it's not real money", well it's real money you're taking from people isn't it ?
 

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Just two weeks ago the german cabinet decided to bring a new youth protection act on it's way, which can be enabled in early 2021 when parliament approves it. One part of it is, that system integrated in the games can now also have an impact on the age rating given by the USK. Before that it was only the content of the game itself.
They specifically mentioned loot boxes and other cost traps that can lead to higher age ratings:

BMFSFJ - Kabinett beschließt neues Jugendschutzgesetz

Giffey: Update für den Jugendmedienschutz - Belästigung, Beleidigung und Abzocke im Internet wirksam begegnen, klare Alterskennzeichnungen und Regeln durchsetzen
www.bmfsfj.de www.bmfsfj.de
 
Decarb

Decarb

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Oct 27, 2017
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PyroPaperPlanes said:
I wonder if EA will find a loophole counter this.
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Add another tier of virtual currency to separate further from real money. Buy EA Points, a universal currency that you can earn (a token amount) in any EA game or buy packs from digital store. Use EA points to buy FIFA points in FIFA and use those to gamble.
 
Lnds500

Lnds500

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Oct 27, 2017
1,683
Didn't Belgium also ban lootboxes? I know gacha games don't release there because of that, but what happened to FIFA?
 
R0987

R0987

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Jan 20, 2018
2,837
They will just remove FP in the netherlands just like they did with belgium these two markets are small enough to ignore.
 
Dark Ninja

Dark Ninja

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Oct 27, 2017
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Didn't know these games still had lootboxes I thought everyone had shifted to battle passes and expensive direct buys.
 

Deleted member 17676

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UK next and that's EA done. Some of the twitch streamers should be banned or warned too. They got the game early and it was blatant EA topped up their accounts so they can open up packs. They don't even have to disclose that. That's how children see their favourite streamers opening packs with not a care and they wanna emulate.

There are also some streamers who spent £20k on their team ffs. The games competitive mode is pay to win. Imagine if you had to pay to get better guns on COD online. It's crazy they allowed to get away with this.
 
FooF

FooF

One Winged Slayer
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Mar 24, 2020
686
I mean they banned Valves loot boxes and within a few weeks they got around the ban and so will ea. It's not like they're just going to give up and go away.
 
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