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Loot boxes, which are random payment rewards for sale in certain video games, will be regulated in Europe by their own law, as announced by Alberto Garzón, Minister of Consumer Affairs.
These regulations would affect games like FIFA and Counter Strike, but also to mobile games like Clash Royale, and these may have to stop selling this type of item in their stores.
Europe is not the only country that has implemented loot box regulation mechanisms, and other countries like Belgium are also trying to regulate them.
Why do you want to regulate loot boxes?
If you are not familiar with this concept, be aware that “loot boxes” are random reward boxes that are paid for with real money and are currently sold in many video games as loot boxes or card packs.
This type of random content has similarities with the mechanisms used in traditional games of chance, and this, according to Alberto Garzón, Minister of Consumption, can lead to “thoughtless, compulsive and pathological” behavior.
That’s why more and more countries are looking to regulate these reward boxes, like have already contacted more than 20 consumer organizations from different European countries.
Loot boxes can affect younger users as well, and there have been more than one case where a child has spent their parent’s money buying loot boxes without permission.
How can this affect games?
In some countries like Belgium or Holland, these boxes have been banned, which has meant that, in the country, the purchase component of many games is not available.
This allows the user to progress through the game and enjoy the rest of the features of this game, but without being able to buy crates with real money and without having access to the chests or envelopes that she grants.
FIFA envelopes
The free Android
This might be the best alternative, since allows users to enjoy the game, but without the share of purchases that can harm you, so they would be safe from the risk they present.
For now, the nature of the regulations is not known that the Department of Consumer Affairs has announced, so it’s unclear whether it will ban these purchases or limit them in some way.
If the former occurs, developers will most likely have to choose between not launch a game in Europe or do so without the possibility of buying loot boxes.
Some games may not be released in Europe
However, it also happens that in these countries some games they don’t even arrive because of the weight of the loot boxes in this, just as it happens with Diablo Immortal.
This game, like others, is not available in Belgium, and Europe could suffer the same fate depending on the severity of these regulations. This would prevent certain titles from reaching our country if the developers consider it not worth it since they will not obtain income this way.
After all, it is a powerful means of financing video games, and there are many of them, especially for mobile platforms which, at a certain stage of development, base the possibility of player progression on purchases. This practice is known as pay-to-win.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see how is this invoice, and then it will be the developers who will have to clarify how they handle this situation.
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