The harrowing tale of loot box legality never seems to end. Last month, the Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) found that Overwatch, FIFA 18, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive were in violation of gambling laws. Technically they left Star Wars Battlefront II off of that list, but the investigation was done prior to EA adding loot boxes back into the game. Now the commission is recommending criminal prosecution against Activision Blizzard, EA, and Valve over their illegal loot boxes.
A English translated transcript of the complete BGC report is available and details exactly what criteria was looked at and how each of these games fall into that criteria. Under the “Recommendations” section, criminal prosecution is immediately mentioned, stating “Because paid loot boxes in the examined video games are illegal, criminal prosecution should be undertaken if these loot boxes continue to be offered. In the first instance, this prosecution should be against the operators of these games of chance, in a later phase also against those involved in operating the illegal game.” One of the primary concerns is that loot boxes are present in a lot more than just these four games. Based on the report, every game with loot boxes that can be bought with real world money are subject to the law with little exception, and the BGC acknowledges that the issue could be more widespread than their investigation. “Given the fact that only four games were examined, the prob...