Star Wars: Battlefront 2 isn’t done tormenting Electronic Arts after the fiasco it created regarding the loot-box and microtransaction mess with players, higher-ups, and other countries. After Belgium ruled loot-boxes are a form of gambling, and that to include them into any game without acquiring a gambling license or adhering to local gambling laws is illegal, it seems that EA isn’t complying to those rules when it comes to FIFA 18 and 19.
According to segmentnext.com and r/Gaming, it looks like EA isn’t having it with Belgium’s loot-box law. The latter posted that:
“Three developers went on their knees, but Electronic Arts (EA) refuses to modify so-called loot boxes from the popular game FIFA 18. Even more, even in FIFA 19, players will be able to buy the virtual surprise packages with real money. That is gambling, according to the Gaming Commission. EA has received an official report in the meantime. “Anyone who does not conform to the risk of legal prosecution. It is now up to the Brussels public prosecutor’s office.””
You can read the full post in its native tongue over on nl.metrotime.be.
To clarify the situation, Belgium ruled that loot-boxes are a shape of gambling and to include them into any video game without following the gambling law in that country is, without a doubt, illegal.
In addition to the above, the law includes getting a gambling license, which is followed by some form of a “thing” preventing people under age from accessing the gambling part of a game.
Skipping the act of going back into a game and developing new sections, creating all new UIs, and altering the options menu and other game code to coincide with this law, most companies disable the loot-box system to comply with Belgium’s loot-box law.
Well, it looks like EA doesn’t even want to do the aforesaid. The CEO of the company, Andrew Wilson, announced plans to keep loot-boxes intact in future games like FIFA 18 and 19:
“As you might imagine, we’re working with all the industry associations globally and with regulators in various jurisdictions and territories, many of whom we’ve been working with for some time and have evaluated and established that programs like FIFA Ultimate Team are not gambling.”
According to the General Director of the Belgian Gaming Commission, Peter Naessens, he notes that FIFA 18 has lost its “innocence.” According to Naessens, players lose thousands of euros, and he and his team responded to complaints from parents, but also from the gaming community to come to the above conclusion.
Lastly, website nl.metrotime.be noted that the Commission is waiting for the “prosecutor’s office to prosecute.” If it does, it’s up to the “judge to judge.”
