Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
FIFA, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: GO could face fines and prison penalties.
The Belgian Gaming Commission has determined that randomized loot boxes in at least three games count as "games of chance," and publishers could therefore be subject to fines and prison sentences under the country's gaming legislation.
A statement by Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens (machine translation) identifies loot boxes in Overwatch, FIFA 18, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive as meeting the criteria for that "game of chance" definition: i.e., "there is a game element [where] a bet can lead to profit or loss and chance has a role in the game." The Commission also looked at Star Wars: Battlefront II and determined that the recent changes EA made to the game means it "no longer technically forms a game of chance."
Beyond that simple definition, the Gaming Commission expressed concern over games that draw in players with an "emotional profit forecast" of randomized goods, where players "buy an advantage with real money without knowing what benefit it would be." The fact that these games don't disclose the odds of receiving specific in-game items is also worrisome, the Commission said.
[...] Belgium's decision follows on a similar finding in the Netherlands, which specifically called out loot boxes in FIFA 18, DotA 2, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Rocket League for illegal gambling activities. In the United States, legislators in Hawaii, Washington state, and the US Senate continue to look into loot box regulations, even as industry bodies like the Entertainment Software Rating Board downplay the need for such actions.
[ TMB Note: We deeply apologize for using that word outside of a serious screenplay. ]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 01 2018, @08:18PM (1 child)
Not bad content.
Please fix your Enter key.
(Score: 3, Touché) by arcz on Tuesday May 01 2018, @08:26PM