Blizzard will not launch Diablo Immortal on mobile or computer in Belgium or the Netherlands, citing “current operating conditions in these countries”.
The story was first reported by Dutch site Tweakers, which confirmed with Activision-Blizzard communications manager Benelux that the game would not be released locally. The communications manager with whom Tweakers spoke would go no further than the previous appointment.
The Belgian Gaming Commission banned the mechanics of video game loot boxes in 2018, on the grounds that if they can be bought with real money in exchange for a game of chance, they violate the laws of gambling of the country. Diablo Immortal is a mobile game and probably full of loot boxes as a means of monetization after release. Since Blizzard cannot monetize the game in Belgium, it has chosen not to release it there.
What is surprising is the decision to withdraw the party from the Netherlands. The Dutch Gambling Commission has a different view of the loot boxes than the Belgian Commission. Under Dutch law, loot boxes do not violate betting laws as long as the content provided has some economic value. To clarify: as the Dutch see it, you should be able to exchange anything you take out of a loot box for real money. Since you probably can’t make it to Diablo Immortal, Blizzard won’t release the game in the Netherlands either.
NME noticed a support ticket on the Blizzard forum stating the same.
“Unfortunately, players in the Netherlands and Belgium will not be able to install Diablo Immortal due to the country’s game restrictions,” says a Blizzard game master post. “Game loot boxes are against the law in your country.
“If you manage to run the game, I can’t guarantee they won’t ban you. All I can say is that in similar situations in the past where RNG’s loot boxes were against the law in certain countries, we didn’t ban any players for that. “But I can’t guarantee you won’t be banned. If you manage to play the game on your computer and mobile phone, as long as you use the same account on both, cross-storage should work as intended.”
None of this affects the upcoming release of the game in Australia (or any other territory where loot boxes are legal). Our parliament has already pinged the loot boxes before, but has decided not to enforce any regulations around them. But it offers an interesting insight into how major publishers view monetization and how it has stuck to the design of certain titles. Aside from not being allowed to make money with gaming in Belgium and the Netherlands, Blizzard probably couldn’t remove the mechanics from Diablo Immortal’s loot box to meet local regulations if it wanted to.
It makes you wonder if Australia took the pin out of the loot boxes and other predatory monetization, would we have the same treatment? Keep in mind that your fun thinking experiment for the day.
One final note: strangely nice to rewrite about the evil of the old loot box? After all the nonsensical intrusions of the NFT and the nascent blockchain in the games over the past few months, complaining about the loot boxes again was like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes (only $ 2 per clothes , by shoe.Range of designs, no refund, legendary). Level Jordanians have a 1% drop rate).