Paid Loot Boxes and Loot Chests Disabled for Players in Belgium

Zweizer · Aug 28, 2018

Made a quick search and didn't find anything on it. Announced on Blizzard's forum and picked up by some other outlets:

Blizzard said:
In April 2018, the Belgian Gaming Commission published a report that was endorsed by the Belgian Ministry of Justice in which they concluded that paid loot boxes in Overwatch are considered gambling under local law. While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion and do not share the same opinion, we have decided to comply with their interpretation of Belgian law. As a result, we have no choice but to implement measures that will prevent Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm players located in Belgium from purchasing in-game loot boxes and loot chests with real money and gems.

No matter what, we want to make sure that our players around the world have the best entertainment experience possible. While players in Belgium will no longer be able to purchase paid loot boxes in Overwatch and loot chests in Heroes of the Storm, they'll still be able to earn them by playing the games, and they'll still have access to all in-game content.

These measures will be implemented shortly. We also remain open to further discussions with the Belgian Gaming Commission and Ministry of Justice on this topic.

Source:
https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/o...t-chests-disabled-for-players-in-belgium/8139

Other outlets:
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news...es_and_loot_chests_for_players_in_Belgium.php
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-re...overwatch-and-heroes-of-the-storm-in-belgium/

Kapryov · Aug 28, 2018

This will get interesting

karnage10 · Aug 28, 2018

I hope this kills loot boxes

Dark Cloud · Aug 28, 2018

This is how judgement day begins.

InquisitorAles · Aug 28, 2018

Well, the industry brought it to themselves, instead of starting to self-regulate those things, they waited long enough for governments to step in, well done.

Dr. Mario · Aug 28, 2018

I like how in the span of a few months the industry quietly went from "Belgium's interpretation is wrong and we are discussing with our legal counsel what we are going to do about it" to "mumblemumble not available in Belgium".

Redcrayon · Aug 28, 2018

I don't think it will affect full price products with lootboxes as much as it should act as a warning for FTP games using it as their entire income stream. Presumably it's still worth selling/supporting the former in Belgium as Blizzard still get the initial purchase price, just like everyone else that buys the base game only. If it's a FTP lootbox game, it's not worth releasing there at all. Does that mean it will affect gacha mobile games next?

red731 · Aug 28, 2018

Those are some good news, but again, with caveats.

Stinkinmushroom · Aug 28, 2018

I'm from Belgium and although i'm against lootboxes and all that crap myself, i think this law is the most ironic thing ever. During the worldcup there were ads EVERYWHERE for gambling websites and apps. Belgium was apparently one of the top countries in betting in Europe.
I know its not the same thing but i hated to see so money ads for betting here. Most of my colleagues and family got fooled into betting too during the worldcup.

Dr. Mario · Aug 28, 2018

karnage10 said:
I hope this kills loot boxes

Meh, the way they're driving a wedge between Belgium and the Netherlands for their slightly different interpretations, though the distribution centers, stores, marketing and returns are probably shared between the two countries, means they're dead set on isolating Belgium here in the hope no countries follow.

DannyClash · Aug 28, 2018

Australia next

パンダさん · Aug 28, 2018

While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion ...

Oh yeah, no one saw that comming.

... and do not share the same opinion, we have decided to comply with their interpretation of Belgian law.

Of course you don't, otherwise the game wouldn't be plagued by lootboxes.

Dinjooh · Aug 28, 2018

Stinkinmushroom said:
I'm from Belgium and although i'm against lootboxes and all that crap myself, i think this law is the most ironic thing ever. During the worldcup there were ads EVERYWHERE for gambling websites and apps. Belgium was apparently one of the top countries in betting in Europe.
I know its not the same thing but i hated to see so money ads for betting here. Most of my colleagues and family got fooled into betting too during the worldcup.

If Belgium is anything like Denmark, there is strict laws preventing minors from betting - on the other hand, there is no such law for this type of 'gambling'. That's where the big issue lies for me.

If people want to gamble, fine - but we should limit minors from it, and we should tax it heavily.

Noppie · Aug 28, 2018

karnage10 said:
I hope this kills loot boxes

Of course it won't.

Riversands · Aug 28, 2018

They can just sell the cosmestic without the lootbox. Simple

Evolution of Metal · Aug 28, 2018

Riversands said:
They can just sell the cosmestic without the lootbox. Simple

Can't sell $50 lootbox package to someone who just wants a new Mercy skin.

ASaiyan · Aug 28, 2018

While players will no longer be able to purchase paid loot boxes...they'll still be able to earn them by playing the games, and they'll still have access to all in-game content.

These are the magic words. First Belgium, then Europe, then the World!

cw_sasuke · Aug 28, 2018

Thats cool..they can keep playing but have to stick to the f2p lifestyle and wont get tempted to burn their money on gambling. Good.

duckroll · Aug 28, 2018

This isn't really a great thing on it's own. What's happening now is that Belgium players are disadvantaged and isolated because of legal pressure from their government. The game itself doesn't change but they have less options compared to other players in the world. Belgium players can't suddenly buy individual unlocks, they don't gain currency faster, they just can't pay to accelerate their acquisition of cosmetic loot while other players can. During events with time limited skins, players who want to pay to make sure they get all the skins will not be able to. And because Belgium is a rather small market, it's not really going to make much of a dent on Blizzard's bottom line.

Unless more countries move towards aggressive legislation like this, the only people affected by this is ironically the Belgium fans themselves.

ASaiyan said:
These are the magic words. First Belgium, then Europe, then the World!

How are these magic words? That has always been the case for Overwatch. You can in theory have all the content you want from playing in-game, it just takes forever and you have to grind an insane number of matches, often in modes you don't even want to play just for the daily bonus loot boxes.

DSP · Aug 28, 2018

So Hearthstone doesn't count for this? interesting.

Dark Ninja · Aug 28, 2018

This is pretty much how I play overwatch depending on how much of everything they have unlocked so their duplicate rate is high, they should be able to still unlock 1 or two legendaries per event of their choice if they continually play a couple of hours a week.

Kubricks · Aug 28, 2018

It won't stop the lootboxes and other similar gambling practices just yet, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Rimkrak · Aug 28, 2018

Nice !

So technically they could open a digital store for Belgium where all the contents of lootboxes would be available to buy but without the random factor? Like buy this costume for x euros?

Phoenom · Aug 28, 2018

A good start. Let's keep the ball rolling.

LuckyLinus · Aug 28, 2018

I hope the rest of EU follows Belgiums example.

Principate · Aug 28, 2018

duckroll said:
This isn't really a great thing on it's own. What's happening now is that Belgium players are disadvantaged and isolated because of legal pressure from their government. The game itself doesn't change but they have less options compared to other players in the world. Belgium players can't suddenly buy individual unlocks, they don't gain currency faster, they just can't pay to accelerate their acquisition of cosmetic loot while other players can. During events with time limited skins, players who want to pay to make sure they get all the skins will not be able to. And because Belgium is a rather small market, it's not really going to make much of a dent on Blizzard's bottom line.

Unless more countries move towards aggressive legislation like this, the only people affected by this is ironically the Belgium fans themselves.

How are these magic words? That has always been the case for Overwatch. You can in theory have all the content you want from playing in-game, it just takes forever and you have to grind an insane number of matches, often in modes you don't even want to play just for the daily bonus loot boxes.

The free lootboxes are designed to push you towards the paid ones. To people that that an issue with the predatory nature system removing the paid lootboxes is the point. Without those paid lootboxes the psychological nature of the scheme doesn't work. There was never going to be a sudden total removal of paid loot boxes and swapping with fixed paid items. If you wanted them to go away situations of this types were inevitability going to happen.

Dark Ninja · Aug 28, 2018

Rimkrak said:
Nice !

So technically they could open a digital store for Belgium where all the contents of lootboxes would be available to buy but without the random factor? Like buy this costume for x euros?

Business wise I would sell them in game currency, an odd amount of it too enough for 1 skin but with some leftover so they will have to waste it on sprays or buy more for another skin. Plus the game is already set up for unlocking stuff with the in game currency you can earn by playing the game.

Decarb · Aug 28, 2018

Did Belgium also close the loophole that let Blizzard keep selling them in China despite being banned? If they did, more countries should implement that text.

Rimkrak · Aug 28, 2018

Dark Ninja said:
Business wise I would sell them in game currency, an odd amount of it too enough for 1 skin but with some leftover so they will have to waste it on sprays or buy more for another skin. Plus the game is already set up for unlocking stuff with the in game currency you can earn by playing the game.

Yeah that's better for business ™ lol. So yeah as long as there is no random factor they can still sell anything , currency or straight up cosmetics. So not really an issue for Blizzard I think, they will still sell stuff and since they seem to pump out a lot of content like that for Overwatch and Heroes, I can understand why they didn't mind cutting on lootboxes, after all they had the time to hook people up already.

shark97 · Aug 28, 2018

Gambling is becoming more and more accepted, legal, and generally pushed/advertised (gotta get those tax $) in the wider world. So trying to turn around and make it some scary evil thing when it comes to lootboxes is a fail. Gambling is the new hotness.

Arttemis · Aug 28, 2018

Riversands said:
They can just sell the cosmestic without the lootbox. Simple

Fucking this. I hope Europe leads the crusade against lootboxes, because it won't go anywhere in America.

ResetGreyWolf · Aug 28, 2018

ASaiyan said:
These are the magic words. First Belgium, then Europe, then the World!

It's always been this way, at least in Overwatch. That statement doesn't really mean anything.

duckroll · Aug 28, 2018

shark97 said:
Gambling is becoming more and more accepted, legal, and generally pushed/advertised (gotta get those tax $) in the wider world. So trying to turn around and make it some scary evil thing when it comes to lootboxes is a fail. Gambling is the new hotness.

I bet you a dollar some people will disagree strongly with this. In fact I would say the odds are pretty good.

:)

3bdelilah · Aug 28, 2018

I hope and expect the Netherlands to come to the same conclusion. If other countries follow suit, surely loot boxes will vanish before long.

Deleted member 11370 · Aug 28, 2018

Oh, noes! The censorship begins! /s

Good riddance to paid loot boxes and all that crap. Hopefully these measures extend to the rest of Europe soon.

Principate · Aug 28, 2018

shark97 said:
Gambling is becoming more and more accepted, legal, and generally pushed/advertised (gotta get those tax $) in the wider world. So trying to turn around and make it some scary evil thing when it comes to lootboxes is a fail. Gambling is the new hotness.

There's also usually strict age restrictions on gambling, that's not even close to be the case on lootboxes.

His Majesty · Aug 28, 2018

oh no

Deleted member 26104 · Aug 28, 2018

So less options for people. That's always good, right?

No wait, that's bad. So now people that want to buy loot boxes to get things they want in those games just..... can't......... because people complained because some tiny minority of players can't control their spending.

ASaiyan · Aug 28, 2018

ResetGreyWolf said:
It's always been this way, at least in Overwatch. That statement doesn't really mean anything.

It's never been the case that you couldn't pay real money for loot boxes until now. That's a start. Imo OW has always had one of the fairer systems (cosmetic-only loot, earnable in-game at a fairly steady pace), but now even the scummiest loot peddlers can't financially benefit from their practices in a whole country. It's definitely something to smile about.

ResetGreyWolf · Aug 28, 2018

ASaiyan said:
It's never been the case that you couldn't pay real money for loot boxes until now. That's a start. Imo OW has always had one of the fairer systems (cosmetic-only loot, earnable in-game at a fairly steady pace), but now even the scummiest loot peddlers can't financially benefit from their practices in a whole country. It's definitely something to smile about.

What do you mean? You earn lootboxes for free by leveling up or doing the arcade events or whatever

Aktlys · Aug 28, 2018

Ye shalt be judget by the sovereign might of the EU

sir_crocodile · Aug 28, 2018

good for belgium. hope this catches on

Mr_Zombie · Aug 28, 2018

shark97 said:
Gambling is becoming more and more accepted, legal, and generally pushed/advertised (gotta get those tax $) in the wider world. So trying to turn around and make it some scary evil thing when it comes to lootboxes is a fail. Gambling is the new hotness.

The problem with this is regulations, clear rules and age restrictions. Lootboxes have none of that.

You have no idea what happens behind the closed door, whether the probability of gaining item X is the same for every user, or is the algorithm customized for each user (i.e. you have lower chance of getting a good item if you're already a paying customer).

Riversands said:
They can just sell the cosmestic without the lootbox. Simple

Allowing you to buy the cosmetic you want instead of buying a random chance of getting the cosmetic? Preposterous!

xrnzaaas · Aug 28, 2018

The entire European Union should do the same.

ASaiyan · Aug 28, 2018

ResetGreyWolf said:
What do you mean? You earn lootboxes for free by leveling up or doing the arcade events or whatever

You could also buy them. For real money. Until now (in Belgium anyway). That's literally what this is about, lol.

Deleted member 11370 · Aug 28, 2018

shark97 said:
Gambling is becoming more and more accepted, legal, and generally pushed/advertised (gotta get those tax $) in the wider world. So trying to turn around and make it some scary evil thing when it comes to lootboxes is a fail. Gambling is the new hotness.

Gambling has, you know, regulations.

TehPotentialz said:
So less options for people. That's always good, right?

No wait, that's bad. So now people that want to buy loot boxes to get things they want in those games just..... can't......... because people complained because some tiny minority of players can't control their spending.

This is incredibly disingenuous. Publishers and developers are trying to sell you what used to be a part of the gameplay loop, and you consider that an "option"?

thinkingemojimeme.png

Augemitbutter · Aug 28, 2018

good. complete EU next please.

Catshade · Aug 28, 2018

I thought they already have a system of pay-an-opened-lootbox* to counter that law? Or is that another company?

*=You can see a lootbox's content before you pay any money. Buy that lootbox, and the next lootbox is opened. Repeat ad infinitum.

ResetGreyWolf · Aug 28, 2018

ASaiyan said:
You could also buy them. For real money. Until now (in Belgium anyway). That's literally what this is about, lol.

Yeah, but I still don't see what that has to do with anything? They didn't change the game design or make it easier to unlock new content. For people who never spent a cent paying for lootboxes, this won't change their experience in the slightest.

I don't think you get it, and giving me that attitude isn't helping you.

ASaiyan · Aug 28, 2018

ResetGreyWolf said:
Yeah, but I still don't see what that has to do with anything? They didn't change the game design or make it easier to unlock new content. For people who never spent a cent paying for lootboxes, this won't change their experience in the slightest.

Well of course publishers aren't going to actively improve their game design just because a regulator hit out at them. In fact, you can already see companies like Take-Two doing exactly the opposite: ripping the MTX-based components out of their game altogether and then telling their annoyed fans to protest the regulators for them. But whether in a foot-dragging confrontational manner or no, these new rules are forcing the end of monetized loot boxes. And that's a good thing.

You're right that it doesn't affect those who've never bought loot boxes, but that's irrelevant. The whole matter at hand is the monetization, and so the people this affects are those who've put money down on predatory loot practices and suffered financial loss because of them. It would be nice if loot drops were made easier to match, but publishers sure aren't going to concede this revenue stream without a fight, lol.

Paid Loot Boxes and Loot Chests Disabled for Players in Belgium

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