Diablo Immortal won’t launch in parts of Europe due to lootbox laws

gamepur.com:

Diablo Immortal launches very soon — check the list of global release times to see exactly when you can start playing the new dungeon-crawler. If you live in Belgium or the Netherlands, you unfortunately won’t be able to join (at least not without a VPN). Diablo Immortal will not be launching in those countries.

As Eurogamer learned, lootbox laws prevent Diablo Immortal from launching there. “Diablo Immortal will not be available in Belgium or the Netherlands and will not appear on Battle.net or the Belgian and Netherlands App or Google Play stores,” a Blizzard spokesperson told the website. “This is related to the current operating environment for games in those countries. Accordingly, pre-registrations for the game are not accessible in those markets.” The quote doesn’t call out lootboxes specifically, but it’s pretty clear that they’re the main factor in the “current operating environment.” Belgium and the Netherlands have very restrictive laws around the practice, leaning on gambling legislation.

For the rest of the world, Diablo Immortal releases on Thursday, June 2. You can preload on PC now if you want to jump in as soon as possible. Originally announced as a mobile-only title, Immortal got a surprise PC announcement in April of this year. Those who intend to play it on iOS and Android can pre-register on those devices as well. Cross-save and cross-progression will be available for those who want to change platforms at any point.

As for the game itself, Diablo Immortal takes place between the events of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and Diablo III. We were able to play the game’s beta ahead of time, so we can answer a few questions before the full launch. For example, you can customize your character appearance