Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Belgium's Gaming Commission Has Declared That Lootboxes Are Gambling
Last week, the country of Belgium used their gaming commission to look into whether games like Overwatch and Star Wars: Battlefront II should be classified as gambling. This week, the commission has declared that, within the borders of Belgium, lootboxes count as games of chance, and they hope to have them declared as such throughout Europe.
VTM News, the source for the original story, reported the news today. The Google translation isn't perfect, but the spirit comes through.
"The mixing of money and addiction is gambling," Belgium's gaming commission stated.
Belgium's Minister of Justice Koen Geens also took part in the announcement. "Mixing gambling and gaming, especially at a young age, is dangerous for the mental health of the child."
Belgium has said they wish to take this to Europe as a whole, which could be a big problem for game publishers who have been making lootboxes and microtransactions a core part of games. Redefining the games as gambling throughout all of Europe could, in theory, cost publishers millions of euros in fines, cause the games to be pulled from normal retail shelves, and generally strain their ability to sell in the region.
It remains to be seen how the industry will react to this.
Our Take
The speed in which this happened is surprising, but momentum has been building for some time. The problems for publishers are innumerable if this keeps going and it might be best for them to volunteer for a solution before regulation really squeezes them.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
