Stefan Mileschin

Not the first time FIFA is involved in illegal activity, now the game is in trouble

The country which invented French Fries and the art of being a gateway for German invaders looking for more interesting places, Belgium, has decided that loot boxes in computer games such as FIFA 18 are illegal gambling.

The Belgian Gaming Commission has determined that randomised loot boxes in at least three games count as "games of chance" and publishers could, therefore, be subject to fines and prison sentences under the country's gaming legislation.

Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens said that loot boxes in Overwatch, FIFA 18, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive met the criteria for that "game of chance" definition. This was because "there is a game element [where] a bet can lead to profit or loss, and chance has a role in the game". The Commission also looked at Star Wars: Battlefront II and determined that the recent changes EA made to the game mean it "no longer technically forms a game of chance".

Beyond that simple definition, the Gaming Commission expressed concern over games that draw in players with an "emotional profit forecast" of randomised goods, where players "buy an advantage with real money without knowing what benefit it would be". The fact that these games don't disclose the odds of receiving specific in-game items is also worrisome, the Commission said.

https://fudzilla.com/news/gaming/461...legal-gambling