Editorial Loot boxes declared gambling in parts of Europe

[Becky]

Becky submitted a new article:

Loot boxes declared gambling in parts of Europe - Belgium has taken a stand against loot boxes that can be purchased for money

Yesterday, the Belgian Gaming Commission announced their decision that the sale of loot boxes, an increasingly common feature in video games, is in violation of gambling legislation. Consequently, game publishers in Belgium must now remove all loot boxes which can be purchased for real money, or else be subject to a fine of €800,000 (£696,000) and up to five years in prison. Furthermore, the potential fine and prison sentence could be doubled if minors are able to purchase the loot boxes....

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[V_R]

Good. They are gambling in my opinion, and they are blatantly aimed at kids too.

This is why I didn't buy SWBF2.

 

[muckshifter]

Ban 'em all !!

 

[Becky]

Yeah, I really wish that they would ban loot boxes that can be bought using real money. First of all, it's gambling and not suitable for minors, and secondly it takes all the fun out of it! Developers / publishers are getting greedy IMO, and if this is the direction gaming is headed then I'm not happy.

It's disheartening that the UK hasn't taken a similar stance. The regulators here seem to be of the opinion that as long as the consumer is informed then it's ok

 

[V_R]

On another related note, this is why PUBG has been flooded with cheaters from Asia for a long time.

They win games, get the crates and sell them on the Steam market for a profit. Its literally making money out of cheating.

The whole crates/lootboxes thing can go to hell as far as I'm concerned, they do nothing for the games. Even if they are only cosmetic items it still promotes gambling and cheating.

 

[Becky]

Yup. It's definitely bad for consumers, and if developers can't see beyond their own profit targets then hopefully the recent rulings will be persuasive.