Earlier this year, Belgium took up the anti-lootbox cause, becoming one of the first countries to investigate lockboxes in online games and ultimately threatening to ban multiple games that it deemed in violation of its federal gambling laws. You’ll probably recall that Valve took fairly quick action to avoid both the Belgian and Dutch authorities’ ire, disabling and then later patching CSGO and DOTA 2 lockboxes for players in those regions.
Overwatch also made the Belgian warning list, and now, Blizzard is responding by preventing Belgian players from buying lockboxes in both Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm.
“In April 2018, 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,” the studio begins.
“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. No matter what, we want to make sure that our players around the world have the best entertainment experience possible. While players in Belgium will no longer be able to purchase paid loot boxes in Overwatch and loot chests in Heroes of the Storm, they’ll still be able to earn them by playing the games, and they’ll still have access to all in-game content.”
In less lockboxy news, Blizzard has released a behind-the-scenes video for its D.Va short, which you can watch below.
