Hi everyone,
I’m a Belgian Hearthstone player and I want to express my frustration and confusion regarding the current situation with the Season 10 Battlegrounds Battle Pass.
I understand that, due to local laws regarding gambling mechanics, Blizzard has disabled the ability to purchase the Battle Pass in Belgium. While this is disappointing, I respect Blizzard’s obligation to comply with national regulations.
However, what feels truly unfair is that some Belgian content creators have still received the Battle Pass for free through promotions or partnerships. This means that a portion of the Belgian player base is getting access to content that the rest of us are completely locked out of — not because of legal issues, but because we’re not streamers or influencers.
This creates a clear disparity between regular players and those with promotional access, even though we’re all part of the same community. While giving the Pass away might technically comply with the law, it undermines its spirit and alienates dedicated players who simply want equal access.
I’m not asking for special treatment or a legal workaround. I’m just asking Blizzard to acknowledge this imbalance and consider offering a fair alternative for Belgian players — for example, a modified version of the Battle Pass that complies with local legislation.
Thanks for reading. If other players feel the same, I hope you’ll join in and give this issue some visibility.
17 Likes
Belgian here as well. Is the issue exclusively for Belgium?
There are multiple irregularities with this new obstacle:
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I know that in the past we have been excluded from other Battleground content as well, even ones that were not paid for.
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The law regarding loot boxes exists since 2018. Whenever it was put in actual effect is another question. Either way, long enough to determine what is legal and not. Why is it only now that the battle pass falls in the unacceptable category? - It doesn’t make sense from a continuity point of view.
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I am not a legal expert, but as far as I understand a battle pass should not be considered in any way remotely close to a lootbox. For one, it’s a one-time buy for you too unlock the full BG experience (don’t get me started on the addition of it in the game, straight cash grab to play the content). LootBOXes implies that you can keep buying chests with random rewards inside. The randomness is what links it to the addictiveness of gambling is how I understand it.
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Cosmetics are still available, while costing money. Certainly when compared to the battle pass it feels hypocritical. We are denied the full experience but can pay for something that does not.
I think it is pretty clear that this does not seem to be a well thought out decision on Blizzard’s part. I wouldn’t even call it a legal workaround for the irregularities stated above. All in all very disappointing development for somebody that plays BGs/duos on a regular basis.
2 Likes
I am not from Belgium and only trying to help, so please no hate. Have you tried buying it using the battlenet instead of the ingame shop? The shop is sometimes bugged (I remember someone reporting it was bugged weeks for him).
2 Likes
Yes, I already tried via the Battle.net desktop app but with no success. A message pops up saying that the product is not available in our country.
I also asked a friend from France to try and gift it to me through Battle.net, but he received a message saying I’m not eligible to receive the item due to regional restrictions.
So unfortunately, there’s no way to obtain the Battle Pass from Belgium at the moment, even through gifting.
1 Like
Guessing “Streamerluck” actually got validated with this … Incredibly unfair to all other Belgian players …
3 Likes
Another Belgian here. Just want to bump it because it does feel unfair.
4 Likes
There should be a work around it from blizzard. Like a season pass without the reroll tokens , or all reroll tokens in the pass for free. Like there is a simple fix. Being forces to be F2P doesn’t benefit thel in any way so i find it unclear that they would just leave it like it is.
1 Like
Bump this post to have other way to have acces this battleground season pass
That’s no sense i can pay battlenet but cant take battle pass cause i live in belgium in the website
This is simply outrageous and ridiculous Blizzard.
Even with the patch of today you didn’t fix that problem.
Just remove the reroll token from it for countries where lottery is forbidden by law. We wouldn’t care not having that part and still pay the same price for the Battle Pass.
There is at least 4 countries where we can’t purchase the Battle Pass.
Keep voting the way you vote, get what you get.
Still no update on this matter from Blizzard ?
It’s a simple fix. They can make a Battle Pass without the token for the countries forbidding them, we would still buy it at the same price.
This is unacceptable.
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It’s the battle bash all over again ! Frustrating and unfair for us BE players ! I invested a lot of time and money in this game, but things like this is killing the joy of playing, so I stopped with Hearthstone !
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Hellooooooo any update here?
Nope, they simple do not care enough to be bothered. lost cause
btw, the other topic has simply been closed referring to the lootbox article from overwatch.
I fully agree with this.
This is exactly what makes the situation feel even more unfair. I understand that Blizzard has to respect local regulations, and I am not asking for an unofficial workaround. But if some Belgian content creators can receive the Battlegrounds Season Pass for free through promotions or partnerships, then it is difficult to understand why regular Belgian players have no possible option at all.
I have been playing Battlegrounds since the beginning and have always bought the Season Pass whenever it was available to me. I would still gladly pay for it now, but from Belgium there is simply no official way to do so.
The biggest issue is not even the tokens or rerolls for me. It is the 4-hero choice at the start of each game. At higher rating, this has a real competitive impact. I recently reached around top 300 in Europe, and not having access to the same gameplay-related benefits as players in other regions, or even some Belgian content creators, feels like a direct disadvantage.
I also contacted Customer Support about this, but they confirmed that they cannot unlock or grant the pass manually, and recommended posting feedback on the forums.
I really hope Blizzard can acknowledge this imbalance and consider a fair solution for Belgian players, such as a Pass Lite without tokens, a separate 4-hero choice upgrade, or another official way to access the gameplay-related benefits while respecting local laws.