Blizzard Removes Paid Loot Boxes in Belgium

Earlier, Belgium ruled that games such as Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm were in violation of gambling laws in that players couldn’t simply purchase the items that they wanted. Rather, the only way to get loot is to use “loot boxes”, which plays with the same risk-reward psychology that gets people hooked on gambling, and thus can cause real damage and “trick” certain types of people into spending way more money than they might have normally. Blizzard, of course, is baffled that their intentionally abusive monetization scheme would be called out as such, but in accordance with the law is going to update both games in the country and removed the ability to purchase the loot boxes with real-world money, which means the only way to unlock things now is to earn em’ the semi-old-fashioned way.

This news comes to us from Blizzard itself:

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.

They also close things off by saying they’re open to being contacted by the Belgian Gaming Commission if they ever feel like changing their minds. Kinda passive-aggressive like.

The topic’s been closed before anyone could comment on it, so it’s hard to get a read on the community on the subject, but I, for one, am not exactly heartbroken. Anyone who knows me knows I was never a fan of loot boxes to begin with, so all I have to say is good riddance.