KT Alarmierendes 2017: Lootbox und Paywall-Wahnsinn

Hot on the heels of the Netherlands declaring loot boxes are gambling and therefore illegal, Belgium has had its say.

The Belgian Gaming Commission looked at Star Wars Battlefront 2, FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and found only Star Wars was not in violation of the country's gambling legislation - and that's only because EA stripped out the game's loot boxes after its launch debacle.

It determined FIFA 18, Overwatch and CS:GO's loot boxes are a game of chance and therefore subject to Belgian gaming law. Battlefront 2, at the time the investigation was conducted, did not have loot boxes, so escapes unscathed.

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A statement from Minister of Justice Koen Geens said FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive were therefore illegal and demanded their loot boxes removed. If they're not, the publishers "risk a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to 800,000 euros". When minors are involved, those punishments can be doubled, Greens added.

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Belgium and the Netherlands have ruled that many loot boxes in games like FIFA Ultimate Team are equivalent to gambling and in violation of their laws, but FIFA publisher Electronic Arts says it plans to continue its loot-box Ultimate Team mode.

“We’re going to continue pushing forward [with FIFA Ultimate Team],” EA chief executive officer Andrew Wilson said during a conference call with industry analysts. “We’re always thinking about our players. We’re always thinking about how to deliver these types of experiences in a transparent, fun, fair, and balanced way for our players — and we’ll continue to work with regulators on that.”

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Wilson explained to investors that it is working to protect this valuable revenue source, which has helped the company grow year-over-year to $1.25 billion during its last quarter even without releasing a major new game.

“We’re working with all of the industry associations globally and with regulators in certain regions and territories,” said Wilson. “Many of [the regulators] we’ve been working with for a long time, and they have evaluated and established that programs like FIFA Ultimate Team are not gambling.”

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EA, of course, says it doesn’t think FIFA Ultimate Team and other video game loot boxes are equivalent to slot machines. Wilson explained why.

“First, players always receive a specified number of items in every FUT pack,” the executive explained. “Second, we don’t provide or authorize any way to cash out digital items or virtual currency for real-world money. And there’s no real-world value assigned to in-game items.”

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The Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) has suggested that criminal prosecution should be undertaken against Electronic Arts, Valve, and Activision Blizzard over loot boxes in their respective games.

Although the BGC has suggested criminal prosecution first and foremost, it will not proceed until Belgian minister of justice Koen Geens has met with industry stakeholders to begin a dialogue on the issue.

Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, BGC director Peter Naessens said: "We are going to take all preparatory measures for the drafting of police reports, but it's not going to be tomorrow. There is a certain amount of time for the minister of justice, but it's not unlimited."

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Additional provisions over player data and payments were recommended, along with the introduction of a user spending limit.

License holders such as FIFA and Disney were also pulled up by the BGC, which suggested such companies pay closer attention to the sort of mechanics appearing in their games.

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Although progress will be slow, momentum is gathering as gambling legislators from around the world turn their gaze towards the issue of loot boxes. According to Naessens, BGC has been in contact with officals in Spain, Germany, Finland, America, and Asia.

"I cannot say there will be a European-wide common approach," he said. "But there is at least a common concern among regulators about those loot boxes and the use of gambling mechanisms in video games, so it will be up for discussion."

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• Steam Trading and Steam Market features are now re-enabled for Steam accounts in Netherlands.
• Customers in Netherlands and Belgium will be restricted from opening containers.

Fox schrieb:

Es wird ernst, nach den Niederlanden folgt jetzt auch Belgien:

Now Belgium declares loot boxes gambling and therefore illegal


https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...res-loot-boxes-gambling-and-therefore-illegal

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In April 2018, the Belgian Gaming Commission published a report that was endorsed by the Belgian Ministry of Justice in which they concluded that paid loot boxes in Overwatch are considered gambling under local law. While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion and do not share the same opinion, we have decided to comply with their interpretation of Belgian law. As a result, we have no choice but to implement measures that will prevent Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm players located in Belgium from purchasing in-game loot boxes and loot chests with real money and gems.

No matter what, we want to make sure that our players around the world have the best entertainment experience possible. While players in Belgium will no longer be able to purchase paid loot boxes in Overwatch and loot chests in Heroes of the Storm, they’ll still be able to earn them by playing the games, and they’ll still have access to all in-game content.

These measures will be implemented shortly. We also remain open to further discussions with the Belgian Gaming Commission and Ministry of Justice on this topic.

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NBA 2K19 launches in a couple weeks, and in Belgium, it’ll be missing a certain component: players there will not be able to buy card packs with real-money currency, thanks to a determination by the Belgian Gaming Commission that such transactions constitute illegal gambling.

As might be expected, publisher 2K doesn’t agree with this ruling, and has issued a statement to that effect on the official site. The statement also asks for a little help from Belgian fans.

“We are working to comply with the BGC’s current interpretation of these laws,” the company wrote in the statement. “As a result, we have made some local changes to the MyTeam mode. These changes are necessary in order for us to accomodate the BGC’s interpretation of the Belgian Gaming Act. Specifically, we will be turning off the ability to purchase packs with premium (non-earned) currency/VC.”

2K says it’s having “continuing conversations” with Belgian officials about the BGC’s interpretation of the rules, and the company argues that the packs you can buy in games like NBA 2K19 already comply with Belgian gambling laws.

“If you agree, we recommend that you contact your local government representative to communicate your opinion,” 2K wrote. “We will keep the community posted on any developments. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

‘Blind’ loot boxes, where players pay for packages of random in-game items, have been banned in both Belgium and the Netherlands recently, following government studies that found them to constitute gambling.

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America`s Most Wanted schrieb:

Also ermöglicht man es den Spielern beispielsweise, das zeitintensive "Grinden" in einem Spiel optional via Mikrotransaktionen zu umgehen.

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Cale schrieb:

Und ich weise die Behauptung, daß Spiele extra-grindig gestaltet werden, nur um Microtransactions zu generieren, einfach mal ins Reich der Verschwörungstheorien

Mir ist jedenfalls noch keines untergekommen, Ausnahmen mag es geben. Aber ich habe auch kein Problem damit, neben dem eigentlichen Spiel noch hier und da etwas bei MTs zu lassen, wenn ich grundsätzlich Spaß an dem Spiel habe.

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Cale schrieb:

Battlefront und Herr der Ringe habe ich nicht gespielt, aber bei NfS wüßte ich nicht, was Du meinst? Mir ist da nichts aufgefallen. Man kann das Argument natürlich grundsätzlich auf alle Spiele mit "bezahlenbaren Abkürzungen" anwenden, aber daß sie jetzt extra so mit der Absicht auf MT konstruiert worden wären ... neee.

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So soll es demnächst ein erstes, großes Update geben, das bei den größten zwei Kritikpunkten ansetzt. Unter anderem will der Entwickler die Zeit, in der neue Teile im Tuning-Shop erhältlich sind, von 30 auf 10 Minuten reduzieren. Außerdem werden diverse Geldbelohnungen für Eventteilnahmen und auch aus den Lootboxen erhöht. Gleiches gilt für den Reputationswert, welcher nun schneller steigen soll.

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