Belgium has created a law banning PAID Loot Boxes because it is considered a gambling
But the law does not prohibit giving Loot Boxes if they are free. Overwatch competitors make paid Loot Boxes unavailable but still give free Loot Boxes.
We are at the point where the code offered by Discord does not even allow you to get 5 free Loot Boxes because we reside in Belgium.
Do not sanction your Belgian players because they are managed by idiots.
Blizzard can make free Loot Boxes available to Belgian players without fear of sanctions from Belgium
(Between us, even if you put paid Loot Boxes, you would risk nothing so much our incompetent leaders would not notice it)
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Asked AI, and there could be work around for blizzard:
lootboxes banned in belgium or there can be exceptions?
Belgium has regulated loot boxes rather than outright banning them. The Belgian Gaming Commission ruled that loot boxes fall under gambling laws if they meet certain criteria, such as being purchased with real-world money and offering random rewards1. This means that loot boxes in games that meet these criteria are subject to gambling regulations.
However, there are exceptions. For example, loot boxes that are bought with in-game currency, which isn’t tied to real-world money, are not considered gambling and are therefore not regulated under these laws1. Some games have adapted by either removing loot boxes or modifying them to comply with the regulations.
so they could at least offer option to buy LOOTBOXES with SILVERCOINS for everyone, with a limit per week( because some people got like 50-300k coins). Since you can not buy silver coins and this only earnable with FREE battepass and weekly missions.
So this would be best option for everyone.
Exactly, that’s correct
The irony is that I don’t spend 1€. I get the Premium Pass for free thanks to Microsoft Points
Meanwhile, kids can buy surprise boxes in stores without knowing what they’re going to get
As far as I can tell, there’s no way to buy the loot boxes, which is a plus, but are they not available at all in Belgium? I would have thought that since there’s no way to buy them, they would be allowed.
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Free Loot Boxes from Challenges are available
Free Loot Boxes from the Free Pass or Loot Boxes offered by Discord are not available
In both cases, it’s free, it requires 0€ which I don’t understand Blizzard’s logic in authorizing certain Loot Boxes and not others
On the other hand, I’m not arguing that the Loot Boxes that we have on the Premium Pass are not available in Belgium, it’s normal
The only thing I can think of, is that the Free Pass ones are withheld due to being in BP at all, which to me seems like an oversight, and I hope they address that.
Discord, I didn’t even know that there was a quest for them, as I don’t think quests are available at all in Australia. Quests are an advert, so it’s possible that Belgium was excluded from that campaign due to the laws around gambling.
All in all, it seems ridiculous, I agree.
I mailed Support and they said that the Discord lootboxes fall under the same issues as the free in-game lootboxes and that I should come to the forums in hopes they change something, so this sounds like Blizzard is doing too much to keep in line with our rules and they could still change it.
For the free lootbox in the battle pass, technically you could buy levels and get the lootbox quicker that way, which could be seen as “paying for the lootbox.”
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