An employee of Activision Blizzard has confirmed that the new action RPG Diablo Immortal will not be released in Belgium and the Netherlands. The reason is the strict laws regarding loot boxes in both countries. The release on PC, iOS, and Android is on June 02.
In many countries, not just in Europe, states are taking action against the exploitation of players in video games. Belgium and the Netherlands are at the forefront in Europe and have enacted laws against excessive loot boxes.
The games are then considered “gambling” and are treated accordingly.
To circumvent the strict laws in both countries, the officials at Activision Blizzard have now decided to completely skip Belgium and the Netherlands. Diablo Immortal will not be released in these countries.
Everything about the release of Diablo Immortal on June 02 can be found in our info hub:
“This is due to the current operating conditions”
Why is the game not being released? The laws in the two EU countries are significantly stricter than those in Germany regarding loot boxes. In Belgium, a state permit for gambling is required, similar to Germany.
Without this permit, heavy fines can be imposed (via kotaku.com).
A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard told the Dutch site tweakers: “This is due to the current operating conditions for games in these countries” (via tweakers.net).
There is also a post circulating on reddit from a game master at Blizzard, explicitly stating that it is about the loot boxes in the game. If the gambling regulations in the countries do not change, no release is expected in Belgium and the Netherlands (via reddit.com).
This also aligns with the increased Pay2Win allegations in recent times:
It is not yet entirely clear what the shop of Diablo Immortal will look like at the release on June 02. However, they seem to want to avoid risking a classification as “gambling” for now.
The MMORPG Lost Ark was even banned upon release in both countries. We spoke with a lawyer back then to find out if this could also happen in Germany:
We will likely only see after the release whether Activision Blizzard is simply being cautious here or whether the gambling mechanics will actually hit hard.
In an interview with MeinMMO, the officials have already responded to the Pay2Win criticism: Diablo Immortal heads respond to Pay2Win allegations from the biggest MMORPG YouTuber
We are also eager to hear your thoughts on the topic of Pay2Win in Diablo Immortal. Feel free to leave us a comment.
