EA Refuses to Remove Loot Boxes in Belgium, Legal Action to Follow

News comes out of Brussels this week regarding EA. And as hard as it may be to believe, its about allowing loot boxes. The publisher is refusing to comply with Belgium's gambling regulation, leading to talk of legal action.

According to a report by nieuwsblad.be, the developers of the FIFA 18 and FIFA 19 games have requested that the games be updated to comply with Belgium's gambling regulations. Publisher EA has disregarded these requests, keeping the loot boxes in the game. Since these loot boxes can be purchased using real-world money, they're classified as gambling under the local Gaming Commision. The company has received an official report at this time, and will be met with legal prosecution by the Brussels public prosecutor's office should they refuse to comply.

This has only been the latest in the drama between Belgium and EA. The country was one of the first to implement new legislation relating loot boxes. This led to companies like Blizzard removing loot boxes in Belgium, while 2K games asked their fans to write to the government, asking them to allow microtransactions.

Approximately $3.4 billion of EA's income is from online sales. Despite their generally frowned upon nature in the community, loot boxes have proven to be a profoundly effective venture for the company. It's very possible that EA plans to intentionally keep the boxes in the game, and accepting whatever legal fee it costs them.

This reminds me of a story I once heard. It was about a radio station that broadcast their signal with more power than allowed by the FCC. Every year they accept the rule-breaking fee because the income generated from the additional range it provided. It was more profitable to simply break the rules.

The gaming commision concluded their statement with a promise to pursue. They stated that if the office does not prosecute EA, they "will advocate revising the gambling law, so that we can tackle the loot boxes."

Stay Tuned.