[ad_1]
Diablo Immortal is the free-to-play mobile entry in the franchise coming out on Thursday across the globe except for the Netherlands and Belgium. The reason behind those countries not having access to the new game are the laws preventing the selling of loot boxes.
A post on the Diablo Immortal subreddit from May 23 had a screenshot of a reply from a Blizzard Entertainment employee in Europe who confirmed players in Belgium and the Netherlands will not be able to install the game when it releases. Dutch tech site Tweakersconfirmed the game’s unavailability because of those countries’ anti-gambling laws that also include loot boxes as first spotted by GameIndustry.biz Monday. Players who attempt to get around the restriction in order to play the game risk being banned from Blizzard Entertainment’s Battle.net.
Loot boxes are grab bags of in-game content purchased via a specific in-game currency that typically requires real-world money. Both Belgium and the Netherlands passed their respective laws outlawing these forms of gambling in 2018, with other European countries considering their own versions of the legislation. There was a push by Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, to ban loot boxes in the US back in 2019.
Blizzard Entertainment didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Diablo Immortal launches for PC, Android and iOS on Thursday.
[ad_2]
Source link
