The Belgian authorities demanded that Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard and Valve remove loot boxes from a number of popular online titles. Otherwise, the largest gaming companies face fines of up to €800 thousand.
What happened
The Belgian Government Commission on Gambling (BGC) has decided that the presence of loot boxes in FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive violates gambling legislation.
The agency came to this conclusion after an investigation that lasted 5 months.
Interestingly, BGC did not find any direct violations of the law in Star Wars Battlefront II, because of which an international controversy about the legal status of loot boxes began at the end of last year.
The position of the Belgian authorities
The head of BGC, Peter Naessens, noted that Valve, Activision Blizzard and EA “tempt and mislead” their users with the help of loot boxes.
Belgian Justice Minister Koen Geens said that the combination of video games with gambling mechanics is “dangerous for mental health.”
He added that the government is already taking measures to protect adults and young users from gambling in video games.
At the same time, the Belgian authorities have not set an exact date by which gaming companies should eliminate violations.
The Ministry of Justice announced its readiness to meet with representatives of the gaming industry and discuss a way out of this situation together.
What is considered gambling in Belgium
Belgian law recognizes gambling as such by 4 factors:
- there is a game element in it;
- you can place bets in it;
- bets can bring profit or loss;
- the outcome of the game depends on the case.
The maximum penalty for violating gambling laws in Belgium is imprisonment for up to 5 years.
Reaction of game publishers
Electronic Arts has agreed to a dialogue with the Belgian authorities and noted that so far it has not been officially presented with any claims. The publisher denies that her titles are related to gambling.
“We firmly believe that our games do not violate international laws and ethics, so we take such accusations seriously,” an EA representative said.
The European Association of Video Game Developers (ISFE) has not yet commented on the statement of Belgian officials.
Belgium is the second European country to introduce state regulation of loot boxes in video games.
Recall that on April 20, the Dutch authorities demanded to remove loot boxes from Dota 2, PUBG, FIFA 18 and Rocket League. If publishers do not do this by June 20, they will face fines, and games may be banned in the country.
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