Belgium And The Netherlands Bans Diablo Immortal Over Its Lootboxes

Diablo Immortal is officially launching worldwide tomorrow with the exception of several Southeast Asian countries which will be getting the mobile Diablo game later this month. Expectant gamers in Belgium and the Netherlands, however, won’t be getting the game at all as the two countries have blocked its launch in their respective nations on of its lootboxes, which are deemed illegal under their gambling laws.

“Unfortunately players in the Netherlands and Belgium will not be able to install Diablo Immortal due to the countries’ gambling concerns,” said a spokesperson for Blizzard Entertainment Europe. “The lootboxes in the game are against the law in your country, so unless the gambling restrictions change, the game will not be released [in the above-mentioned regions].”

The spokesperson warns players against ing the game in another country as this would be illegal and may result in a permanent ban. Although he hinted at the possibility of playing the game using VPNs, he maintained that there will be no guarantee that the won’t be banned.

“What I can say [is] that in similar situations in the past where RNG lootboxes were against the law in certain countries, we did not ban any players for it. But, I cannot give you a guarantee that you will not be banned. If you do manage to play the game on PC and mobile, as long as you use the same on both, the cross-save should still work as intended.”

At least 18 other European countries and organizations have also backed the banning of lootboxes according to a report from the Norwegian Consumer Council. The European Consumer Organization, which includes 46 consumer organizations from 32 different countries, has also backed the report.

“[…] Companies employ a lot of tricks to push consumers into spending money on loot boxes. We believe that many of these tricks add up to unfair and predatory practices,” read the report. “This is particularly concerning because many games with loot boxes are also geared toward kids and minors. There are also countless stories of consumers (kids and adults) who have been led to spend exorbitant amounts of money on loot boxes, demonstrating a clear financial harm.”

This isn’t the first time that European countries have Hearthstone card packs and their refusal to give refunds for card pack purchases.

Barring any other country-specific bans, the rest of the world will be able to and play Diablo Immortal on Southeast Asian countries.