The Belgium Gaming Commission has ruled that loot boxes inside games like Overwatch and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 constitute a form of gambling.
An investigation, launched just last week, has already ruled that loot boxes are “dangerous”.
“The mixing of money and addiction is gambling,” the Gaming Commission declared (via Google Translate and VTM News).
“Mixing gambling and gaming, especially at a young age, is dangerous for the mental health of the child,” Belgium’s Minister of Justice, Koen Geens, added.
Geens said the Commission intends to ban loot boxes in Belgium, and plans to ask other European countries to do the same.
“We have to go to Europe. We will certainly try to ban it,” Geens said.
America’s ESRB has already gone on record saying it doesn’t consider loot boxes as a form of gambling.
“While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t want),” a representative of the ESRB said. “We think of it as a similar principle to collectable card games: sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have.”
Both Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Overwatch are available on Windows PC, Xbox One and PS4. Do you think their in-game loot boxes are a form of gambling?
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