28142
Nintendo 3DS Legend
Towns Folk
Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2018-...res-loot-boxes-gambling-and-therefore-illegal
Official statement (Also linked in source): https://www.koengeens.be/news/2018/...ie-videogames-in-strijd-met-kansspelwetgeving (Dutch)
TL;DR for anyone who doesn't want to read this whole thing: Games might/will be changing, especially if you live in Belgium. Other countries will most likely follow what Belgium is doing soon.
So after the whole world has been going to and fro on if Lootboxes fall under gaming restrictions, Belgium are the first to come out to say yes. The statement reads (Translated from Dutch):
This means that if games companies fail to comply with Belgium's orders, they could face prison and a fine. Since minors are involved, prison time + fine can be doubled.
This is the start of what could be more countries following along, and a change in games now a days. Most likely the companies involved will talk in quiet with with minister of Justice for Belgium and work something out, but it's also likely that another version could get released for Belgium specifically, or even just get the games banned there.
Something similar happened in China, for just Overwatch to my knowledge where lootboxes got changed to show the percentage rates for each box you open. I believe that is on the Asian version of Overwatch.
I don't believe I've seen much conversation on here about if lootboxes are gambling or not. I know this doesn't really affect nintendo games since at least, to my knowledge, lootboxes don't exist on any nintendo game? I could be wrong on that since there's just so many of them. However for games that have been speculated to be on the switch (Overwatch for one), they might get affected by this.
EDIT: Totally forgot all about FIFA 18 which is also on the switch. Unsure if it has looboxes, however I can safely assume that it does.
Official statement (Also linked in source): https://www.koengeens.be/news/2018/...ie-videogames-in-strijd-met-kansspelwetgeving (Dutch)
TL;DR for anyone who doesn't want to read this whole thing: Games might/will be changing, especially if you live in Belgium. Other countries will most likely follow what Belgium is doing soon.
So after the whole world has been going to and fro on if Lootboxes fall under gaming restrictions, Belgium are the first to come out to say yes. The statement reads (Translated from Dutch):
Minister of Justice Koen Geens said:
This means that if games companies fail to comply with Belgium's orders, they could face prison and a fine. Since minors are involved, prison time + fine can be doubled.
This is the start of what could be more countries following along, and a change in games now a days. Most likely the companies involved will talk in quiet with with minister of Justice for Belgium and work something out, but it's also likely that another version could get released for Belgium specifically, or even just get the games banned there.
Something similar happened in China, for just Overwatch to my knowledge where lootboxes got changed to show the percentage rates for each box you open. I believe that is on the Asian version of Overwatch.
I don't believe I've seen much conversation on here about if lootboxes are gambling or not. I know this doesn't really affect nintendo games since at least, to my knowledge, lootboxes don't exist on any nintendo game? I could be wrong on that since there's just so many of them. However for games that have been speculated to be on the switch (Overwatch for one), they might get affected by this.
EDIT: Totally forgot all about FIFA 18 which is also on the switch. Unsure if it has looboxes, however I can safely assume that it does.
