Via ResetEra user Creamium: https://www.resetera.com/threads/belgian-gambling-commission-is-investigating-battlefront-ii-and-overwatch.6280/
Original source (Dutch): https://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/onderzoek-naar-nieuw-star-wars-spel
The gambling commission is investigating the new video game SW: Battlefront II. In this game, you can pay money for upgrades, only you don't know what you're getting beforehand. Overwatch, another popular game, is also being investigated.
[...]
The game features loot crates, which offer items but the contents are random. "Therein lies the problem", says director of the gambling commission Peter Naessens to VTM news. "It depends on luck and at that point you're gambling."
The commission says this game poses a danger to minors, who are under (social) pressure to spend a lot of money on the game.That's why they're starting an investigation. "If we are dealing with a game of chance, they need to have a permit."
In the worst case scenario, this could lead to fines of hundreds of thousands of euros. The game could also be removed from stores. EA, developer of the game, declined to comment.
-
The Dutch gambling authorities are also investigating loot boxes in general: https://www.nu.nl/games/5009924/nederlandse-kansspelautoriteit-onderzoekt-lootboxen-in-games.html
We also don't have any laws allowing online gambling here. If the authorities find loot boxes to be online gambling the publishers have simply broken Dutch law. They might have to pull the games (or the microtransactions themselves) from the various online stores permanently if that's the case.
