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

[Musubi]

Then you could easily just change Gambling as in "You get 10 cents each time you spin a roulette."

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And guess what Blizzard did in China? They found a loophole to keep the loot boxes in the game by skirting around the legalize of the definitions set in place.

This doesn't move the bar at all for this stuff. Maybe the implementation. They aren't going away though.

 

[rras1994]

Again, free to play should be fine. Plus, valve offers transferable ownership I believe- that should also let them off the hook somewhat.

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Why would free to play be fine? The reason they gave for banning them is it encourages gambling in minors - why would it matter if the game was free or had a $60 dollar price tag? From their definition it would still be encouraging gambling in children

 

[Raijinto]

Wow, imma gonna go and grab my popcorn.

 

[Stealth X Hawk]

See: Rainbow Six Seige

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I actually play a ton of rainbow six siege.. which has lootboxes in the form of alpha packs lol... What?

 

[Jiraiza]

Man, I can imagine all others publishers being kinda mad at EA right now. Like very mad.

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"Way to ruin our fun, assholes."

 

[signal]

Geens, according to the report, wants to ban in-game purchases outright

This sounds bad.

 

[Nome]

Realistically, developers will just shard off Europe from the rest of the world and publish different versions of games in different territories.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I'm not sure you're going to like the alternatives.

In China for example, a lot of games just sell VIP subscriptions where you gain an explicit advantage over all players who don't.

Similarly, you can slow progression down to a crawl and sell experience rate boosters.

Or you can just make paid-only weapons that are better.

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Sounds like we should just get rid of MP altogether

 

[Deleted member 31092]

The right thing should be a PEGI 18 or at least disabling lootboxes for minors, and of course releasing the odds.

 

[Deleted member 13101]

Kids are going to have to go back to decoding secret messages in order to learn the value of disappointment.

 

[Stanng243]

Again, free to play should be fine. Plus, valve offers transferable ownership I believe- that should also let them off the hook somewhat.

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The article says they are trying to ban all in game purchases. I see no reason this shouldn't also affect free to play.

 

[Sanox]

Yeah i don't like this. Heavily regulate it but outright banning just means back to no chance of getting cosmetics in game since they are just regular dlc, split communities with map packs etc., the emergence of something worse potentially, higher game prices etc.

 

[Deleted member 26768]

Why are people just focused on EA? Doesn't this impact games like Overwatch. Actually doesn't this impact many games.

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The investigation actually was discussed specifically following the ruckus about Battlefront 2 and Overwatch

 

[Deleted member 249]

What indication do you have that free-to-play games would not be affected? If they are talking, straight-up, "If there is a virtual pack you can buy with real money that has unknown contents at the time of purchase, and that is in particular, dangerous for children" then that not only include free-to-play games, but may hit them earlier and harder because a lot of those target kids or are accessible to that audience. At least stuff like SWBF or CoD can say "well we're rated T or M", whereas PaD is rated E for Everyone.

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I think because usually they display the actual odds- maybe they are affected, I don't know. Reasonably speaking, a free to play game that displays actual odds should be able to get off Scott free (like TCGs do)

 

[Nirolak]

Any publisher that tries to make a game literally pay to win will see their community wither and die.

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Have you seen what Call of Duty has been putting in loot boxes?

 

[NullPointer]

Great news.

Remember Games Industry, you've chosen not to self-regulate.

 

[Deleted member 888]

but it won't change anything. They'll keep doing loot boxes. China outright banned the sale of such things, and what did Blizzard do? Adapt. You say Blizzard got fucked, but in reality they stabbed at it in another different way and are probably still reaping the profits.

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I trust the EU, heck, even America, to implement rules and regulations better than China. The point of watching Blizzard in China is the loot boxes weren't banned, China just said you have to display drop rates. Blizzard went out of their way just to hide their drop rates by reworking their game.

If that doesn't tell you something I don't know what will.

 

[Stealth X Hawk]

Splatoon 2.

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That's great Splatoon 2 did that. Other than Splatoon 2 and arms, are there any others?

 

[Deleted member 1041]

Any publisher that tries to make a game literally pay to win will see their community wither and die.

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and when all the popular multiplayer games are like that

What then? What will you do? Game companies will adapt to continue making more money.

 

[Nirolak]

Sounds like we should just get rid of MP altogether

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You can do the same for singleplayer.

Imagine leveling at 1/3rd the speed in an RPG.

 

[hipsterpants]

I'm not sure you're going to like the alternatives.

In China for example, a lot of games just sell VIP subscriptions where you gain an explicit advantage over all players who don't.

Similarly, you can slow progression down to a crawl and sell experience rate boosters.

Or you can just make paid-only weapons that are better.

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Sounds like the solution to avoid this stuff is to basically not play multiplayer games. Or limit it to Indies that still avoid it.

 

[Deleted member 5491]

Whether or not you can physical items for money if you don't want them seems irrelevant to the idea that spending money on random goods is gambling or would foster a gambling addiction with children. You can win a lot of money at a casino but it is still gambling.

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Sure you can win money in a casino that you can use anywhere else but guess what:
You won't get anything any time. With booster packs you always get something for your money and on most of them they tell you the chance of getting an premium card

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[Chocobo115]

I wonder how publishers Will respond if it gets banned all over europe. Will they raise the prices of the games now? Will they figure our something even scummier now?

 

[Deleted member 26768]

The article says they are trying to ban all in game purchases. I see no reason this shouldn't also affect free to play.

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That's not what is written in the article, PCGamer fucked up and did not bother searching for a quick translator.

 

[Omar]

Sounds bad for the industry.

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What mystery industry are you talking about ? this year's best games had no gambling in it.
And let me tell you this was an awesome year for video games

 

[KingSnake]

Reasonably, free to play games should be fine. They may have to start displaying odds publicly though.

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Why? If they sell any kind of microtransactions that end up in a lottery of any kind they will be under the same umbrella.

 

[Yoshi]

I never thought I would ever say Belgium is my hero, about anything, but here we are.

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They invented a way to make potatoes edible, afterall.

Great result, I hope the EU will follow suit.

 

[nycgamer4ever]

I am not sure if it's just me but it seems like the US does a piss poor job of protecting it's citizens from predatory corporate behavior like this.

This is a big win for consumers and I hope it catches on.

 

[Mr. Pointy]

Lootboxes are $1 slot machine where you're guaranteed of getting 2c back a spin. Maybe you get a big pay out once in a while, but the machine is still programmed to only give you ~80c / $1 in the long run.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

See: Rainbow Six Seige

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I love how lootboxes have some how blinded people to the non gambling methods of additional revenue. Like somehow they see "paid map packs" vs "lootboxes" as literally the only options.

 

[perfectchaos007]

€80 games incoming

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Better than $3000 games like Battlefield 2.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Why would free to play be fine? The reason they gave for banning them is it encourages gambling in minors - why would it matter if the game was free or had a $60 dollar price tag? From their definition it would still be encouraging gambling in children

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The article says they are trying to ban all in game purchases. I see no reason this shouldn't also affect free to play.

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*shrug*

Ban them outright then. Legitimately, I think that's a loss I'm willing to take.

Have you seen what Call of Duty has been putting in loot boxes?

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Do you think it will be sustainable if they outright tell you 'you are at a disadvantage unless you pay $5 for his gun'?

 

[PurpleRainz]

Oh man, I just thought of something if they outlaw lootboxes get ready for everything to a be a random drop but you can buy drop rate boosters : )

 

[Mobu]

"Geens, according to the report, wants to ban in-game purchases outright, and not just in Belgium:"

Doesnt this include every DLC ever? lmao, Thanks Big Brother for telling me how the fuck to spend my money

 

[ArmadilloGame]

Not trying to be snarky but how are Loot boxes different from buying a pack of Magic tG cards?

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1. It's all on a spectrum. M:TG has always been near the line. Loot boxes are a little further down. As such, they deserve a little more scrutiny.
2. Cards are physical. They never go away, and a secondary market can exist that the manufacturer has no part of.
3. Wizards of the Coast never abused their position nearly as badly as loot boxes have. When something is right on the line of legality, action often comes if the position gets abused. M:TG lets players know the rarity of their cards. It acts honestly in a realm where that has weight. Loot boxes act as ambiguously as possible and squeeze as much profit as possible.

 

[Stealth X Hawk]

You guys opened up a can of worms and I guarantee you won't like the outcome.

 

[signal]

I wonder how publishers Will respond if it gets banned all over europe. Will they raise the prices of the games now? Will they figure our something even scummier now?

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Special EU edition games with all content unlocked (€150)

 

[Deleted member 1041]

I trust the EU, heck, even America, to implement rules and regulations better than China. The point of watching Blizzard in China is the loot boxes weren't banned, China just said you have to display drop rates. Blizzard went out of their way just to hide their drop rates by reworking their game.

If that doesn't tell you something I don't know what will.

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Do you really think Europe and the US would do a better job

really

All that means are different microtransactions for different parts of the world. These regulations don't affect what the US will do, if anything companies will implement one system for Europeans, and another for Americans.

 

[Deleted member 887]

Easy way around this is to promise an item in each lootbox you get no matter what.

 

[Starlatine]

You guys realize the only reason you get new characters in overwatch is because of loot boxes purchases right?? Lol

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yeah i bet the game being a huge success and having a large userbase that needs new content to keep in the game have absolutely nothing to do with it

alllll lootboxes

 

[Peleo]

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."

Wouldn't that also include DLC ?

 

[TheCed]

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

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I'm Canadian... We've been paying this price for a while now.

 

[Nimby]

I'd say this is bad.. sorry... Say goodbye to free updates to maps, characters, skins ect. Say hello to split communities from expansions and map packs instead.

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I feel like Overwatch could still give heroes free, and maps free and have had all additional cosmetic content as DLC. I mean OW is built on the player having access to all heroes, you can't play the game correctly if you had to pay $6.99 to unlock Moira. "I can't switch to Moira because I haven't bought her yet."

 

[rras1994]

Any publisher that tries to make a game literally pay to win will see their community wither and die.

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It won't matter if it's pay-to-win or only cosmetic! They are banning cus it encourages gambling in children - it doesn't matter what's in the boxes

 

[Yoshi]

Geens, according to the report, wants to ban in-game purchases outright

This sounds bad.

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I see no issue. In-Game purchases have the problem of a lack of distance and there is no reason why buying something in a game is necessary for any gameplay purpose.

 

[Musubi]

You can get items you already have, which is the same as getting nothing. So no, you aren't guaranteed shit.

Besides, you are more than likely to not get the thing you want. So you keep gambling until you get it.

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In that case of a dupe you still get in game currency which is still getting something.

 

[Jawmuncher]

You can do the same for singleplayer.

Imagine leveling at 1/3rd the speed in an RPG.

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Dammit

 

[KoolAid]

"Geens, according to the report, wants to ban in-game purchases outright, and not just in Belgium:"

Doesnt this include every DLC ever? lmao, Thanks Big Brother for telling me how the fuck to spend my money

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[Icemonk191]

This is so dumb.

But like Nirolak said in the grand scheme of things this is no big deal.

 

[Eumi]

Have you seen what Call of Duty has been putting in loot boxes?

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Lootboxes hide that away though. It hurts less if it's random, because you'll totally get it if you just keep playing, right?

Whereas if they change it to a straight up purchase for an advantage, the community will not react well. Keep in mind this whole thing came about from the community backlash to a much less awful system.