In Belgium, FIFA players will have to refrain from purchasing FIFA Points in the future. EA is complying with a ban from the Belgian Gaming Commission.
Here’s the backstory: In recent months, the Belgian Gaming Commission has made headlines repeatedly. They addressed the question of whether loot boxes in games fall under gambling. The Commission decided that this constitutes gambling and demanded that developers remove this system from their games.
Numerous developers followed this request and removed loot boxes from the Belgian versions of the game. Only EA did not back down and engaged in a back-and-forth with the Belgian Commission.
EA has now given in – FIFA halts the sale of Points
A decision has now been made: After a dispute lasting over a year, EA has now relented. In a statement, the developers addressed the player community and announced that the sale of FIFA Points in Belgium will be discontinued.
Through FIFA Points, players could purchase packs and draw rare players for FIFA 19’s Ultimate Mode (FUT). Which player cards a pack contains is selected randomly. The packs often include players worse than desired.
This is the problem: When the Commission began to examine the loot boxes, they encountered an issue: A player spends money to obtain a box containing random items. Therefore, the player does not know which item they will receive.
Since chance determines the outcome and money is involved, this form of loot boxes is classified as gambling. At least that’s how Belgian experts see it.
When does the ban take effect? As of January 31, 2019, the sale of FIFA Points in Belgium will be completely halted. Players who still have Points in their account can use them, but no new Points can be purchased.
However, EA is dissatisfied: The game developer stated in the announcement that they are not happy with the decision of the Belgian Commission and will continue to seek a solution to the problem.
Besides FIFA, many other games are also affected by this decision. In 2017, the Commission also examined the loot boxes from Overwatch and Star Wars Battlefront 2:
