Nintendo To Shut Down Two Mobile Games in Belgium Over Loot Box Law

No one is safe from the Loot Box Controversy. Nintendo will be ending support for two of their most popular mobile games in Belgium due to their monetization practices.

Reported on by Haydn Taylor, Nintendo has issued a statement in Belgium, announcing plans to take Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes offline in the country in regards to "certain in-game revenue models." After August 27, 2019, the two games will no longer be available for play or download in the country. Any future games the company develops for mobile that has the same practices will not be released in Belgium, either.

This is in response to an ongoing battle between game developers/publishers and the country of Belgium, who determined that loot boxes are an illegal form of gambling. This has been the most severe stance a country has taken on the practice, so far.

Why these games? Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has a "fortune cookie" system comparable to loot boxes. Using the game's premium currency, users can purchase a cookie, which will reward the player with a randomly chosen item. In Fire Emblem Heroes, the process is similar, but the user redeems Orbs for a random fighter character.

Depending on your stance with loot boxes, this could be seen as an absolute win. All I know for sure is that there will be people faking their location to play the game anyway.