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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: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday May 02 2018, @07:45AM
I've been to Belgium. Brussels, big city there. One of the biggest. I was in Brussels a long time ago, 20 years ago, so beautiful, everything is so beautiful -- it’s like living in a hellhole right now. There is something going on and it's not good, where they want Sharia law, where they want this, where they want things that -- you know there has to be some assimilation. There is no assimilation. There is something bad going on. And it's a horrible situation.
Believe me, I know more about gambling than anybody. I've owned many casinos. I made Atlantic City what it is today. And I'm telling you, don't do your gambling in Belgium. Monte Carlo is very nice. I have a hotel in the most exclusive area of Monte Carlo. And a trip to Vegas is never a mistake. I run the best hotel there, Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. Book today!