Activision Blizzard has announced that it will not release the highly anticipated Diablo Immortal in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is thought that this decision is related to the restrictions on the “loot box” system in accordance with the gambling laws of the mentioned countries.
Although there was no clear statement from the company on the subject, Activision Blizzard’s Communication Manager stated that the decision could not be downloaded from PC or application stores due to the current policies of these countries.
Activision Blizzard has recently announced the release date of Diablo Immortal, and the game was ready for release in Belgium and the Netherlands as well. The news that the game, which is expected to be launched in early June 2022, will not be released in these two countries came suddenly.
The gambling laws of the Netherlands and Belgium were updated in 2018, and within the scope of these laws, the system of obtaining items for the game based on luck, called the loot box, is defined as gambling. In October 2020, The Hague Court fined EA $11 million for the loot box system used in FIFA Ultimate Team. Later, this decision was overturned as an “optional part of a larger game.”
Diablo Immortal will be available on mobile app stores in other countries on June 2. Fans of the Diablo series in Belgium and the Netherlands are already looking for alternative ways to access the game.
