Diablo Immortal to not be released in Belgium and the Netherlands due to lootbox laws
Some bad news recently came out for Diablo Immortal fans concerning the game’s launch. The game will not be released in Belgium and the Netherlands at all.
According to a statement by Activision Blizzard, this is due to gaming laws in those countries. Fans of the game will have to wait for Diablo 4 since the free-to-play mobile and PC game will not be launching in those areas.
Both Belgium and the Netherlands have a pretty firm anti-lootbox stance and have declared them a form of gambling.
That means they’re illegal in that country, and that goes for other games with lootboxes, such as FIFA’s Ultimate Team packs. Activision Blizzard spoke to Eurogamer about this, confirming the situation.
Diablo Immortal is a free-to-play game. Thus, there will be other ways to monetize the game. This includes lootboxes, which are banned in the country as they are considered a form of gambling.
Both countries declared the form of monetization illegal back in 2018, and due to this, Activision Blizzard will not be running the game in either area. A post on Reddit caught some attention recently that revealed a message from a Blizzard gamemaster.
The post revealed that lootboxes are against the law in the player’s country, so they will not be able to play the game there. The gamemaster also said it would be illegal for the player to visit a different country and install it there.
The gamemaster further said that they could not guarantee a player wouldn’t get banned from installing the game in another country. It’s terrible news for Diablo Immortal fans, though, at least in those countries.
Some people in the Reddit thread feel like this was just a way for Blizzard to advocate using a VPN. This means that a player could play the game as usual in a
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