The debate surrounding loot boxes is still ongoing, but over in Belgium, it seems to be pretty cut and dry where the authorities have ruled that loot boxes are considered illegal. Prior to this the government had spoken up about it and proposed that because loot boxes are a form of gambling (in their opinion at least), they should be banned.
However now it looks like it is official (via Kotaku) where Belgium minister of justice Koen Greens said that loot boxes violate the country’s gaming legislation. Because of this it is deemed that companies that have games that offer loot boxes could be subject to criminal punishment where they could face up to 800,000 euros in fines and even potential jail time.
To determine if a game’s loot boxes were considered gambling, authorities looked at whether a game element was involved and whether it could lead to profit or loss. They also looked at whether it was based on chance or skill. As a result games such as FIFA 18, Overwatch, and CS:GO were found to be games of chance, at least as far as loot boxes are concerned, and will be subject to Belgium’s gaming law.
Ironically enough Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was not part of the decision because at that time, EA had suspended microtransactions. It is unclear how Blizzard/Activision and Valve will act to this ruling, but EA has since issued a statement where they say (in part), “We would welcome the dialogue with Minister Geens on these topics, as we do not agree that our games can be considered as any form of gambling.”
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