In April, the Belgian Betting Commission announced that, after an investigation, its members determined the loot boxes are considered bets. This means that game developers with this monetization model must change it or face the consequences. Now, Blizzard shared its position in this situation and revealed that it will disable the sale of the loot boxes of Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm in Belgian territory.
Through a posting on the Overwatch forums, Vaneras, head of the Blizzard community, revealed that the company does not share the opinion of the Belgian authorities about loot boxes. That said, they believe that it is important to respect the law, so they will soon stop selling this type of content in Belgium.
"The Belgian Gaming Commission published a report that was endorsed by the Belgian Ministry of Justice in which they concluded that paid loot boxes in Overwatch are considered gambling under local law. While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion and do not share the same opinion, we have decided to comply with their interpretation of Belgian law. As a result, we have no choice but to implement measures that will prevent Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm players located in Belgium from purchasing in-game loot boxes and loot chests with real money and gems," Vaneras stated.
It is important to note that the Overwatch boxes and the Heroes of the Storm chests will still be present. That is, Belgian players can continue to unlock content through the progression system. The difference is that now they can not buy them and they will have to settle for the one they get for playing.
Finally, Blizzard said they are willing to continue talking about the issue with the Belgian authorities and their betting committee. Surely this is with the hope of finding some type of model that allows the sale of this content.
And you, what do you think about this situation? Do you think the Belgian authorities made the right decision? Tell us in the comments.
Overwatch is available for the PlaySation 4, Xbox One and PC.