EA Buckles in Belgium, Stops Selling FIFA Points Following Loot Box Gambling Pressure

Megalith

Megalith

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Faced with potential criminal prosecution, EA has agreed to veer away from loot boxes in Belgium: specifically, the publisher will stop selling FIFA Points, which FIFA Ultimate Team gamers have the option of paying for with real money to acquire new players via card packs. “In September 2018, the Belgian government, which had declared loot boxes to be a form of gambling because players don't know exactly which items a box may contain when buying one.”

Belgium's Gaming Commission determined loot boxes found in FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive were an "illegal game of chance", and thus subject to Belgian gambling laws. Following the ruling, Blizzard, Valve and 2K Games all elected to disable loot boxes in their games in Belgium. EA, however, had done nothing - until now. "After further discussions with the Belgian authorities, we have decided to stop offering FIFA Points for sale in Belgium," EA said.
 
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September 2018, the Belgian government, which had declared loot boxes to be a form of gambling because players don't know exactly which items a box may contain when buying one."
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That sounds like an easy fix, just take out the random element and add in a list of items that you will receive for pulling the lever.

Oh wait, that'd just be DLC, and they can't get nearly the same amount with that element because they can't peddle the low-demand item fillers as prevelantly.
 
Or why just just play the game to get more fifa money instead of allowing people to purchase fifa bucks with hard earned cash!!
 
free items you earn: loot box are just obnoxious waste of my time (overwatch)

loot boxes you pay for: fu.

however android/itunes are basically profitable due to the f2p, p2w models which are often just loot boxes.
 
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