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Industry News
2018/11

Belgium Loot-Box Law Affects Multiple Square Enix Mobile Games

A new report has surfaced highlighting multiple Square Enix mobile games that will be affected by the Belgium loot-box law that went into place not too long ago. As of this writing, it is unclear how many publishers, developers, and games have been affected by this law, but titles such as Kingdom Hearts Union X, Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, and Mobius Final Fantasy have been hit.

As of now, Square Enix is complying to Belgium’s law in the coming months. The company will be removing four mobile games in Belgium by the end of this year. If you happen to be curious what games they happen to be, the four consists of Mobius Final Fantasy (ending on November 30th), Kingdom Hearts Union X (ending on December 6th), Final Fantasy Brave Exvius (ending on December 3rd), and Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia (ending on December 19th).

In case you don’t know, this information comes from website nichegamer.com. In addition, all of the aforesaid dates mean that those games will no longer be playable or in service after passing each of the given times this year in Belgium.

The report that Niche Gamer wrote up also touches on how the Belgian Gaming Commission spoke to the country’s public prosecution office, and how they are investigating whether to pursue legal action against another publisher/developer: Electronic Arts.

The investigation deals with how EA offers loot-boxes through FIFA 18, FIFA 19 and the Ultimate Team mode’s randomized packs. The website reports that Belgian Gaming Commission general director, Peter Naessens, relayed that even if the court rules in favor of EA, they will advocate revising gambling laws so that they “can tackle loot boxes.”

It’s unclear at this point if other countries will follow Belgium and its loot-box law, but what is for sure is that Square Enix won’t have its four mobile games active in said country before 2018 ends.

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