EA agrees to stop selling loot boxes in Belgium

The video games company has agreed to stop loot boxes after the local regulator said that they’re illegal.

Belgium.- Electronic Arts (EA) has revealed that after discussions with Belgian authorities, the company will stop offering FIFA Points for sale in Belgium, also known as loot boxes. The local regulator had previously said that offering such thing was not permitted.

Back in April 2018, the Belgian Gaming Commission investigated four games and determined that three of them violated the country’s gambling laws, as loot boxes are games of chance. After threatening large fines if the games were not adjusted, Blizzard, 2K Games and Valve removed the loot boxes from the Belgian versions of their games.

However, EA decided at the time not to make any changes to its FIFA games in Belgium and the commission started considering the possibility of bringing the company to court. In a change of events, EA has now agreed to stop selling loot boxes in the country, claiming that they’re working to make the changes effective by today, January 31, 2019.

The video games company explained that it seeks to bring choice, fairness, value and fun to to players in all its games. “In addition to providing players options in how they play, we include pack probabilities in our games for the transparency players want to make informed content choices.”

Despite complying with the regulations, EA said that it does not agree with Belgian authorities’ interpretation of the law and that it will continue to seek more clarity on the matter. “The impact of this change to FIFA Ultimate Team in Belgium is not material to our financial performance.”

“Any players in Belgium that have existing FIFA Points in their accounts can continue to use them, but they will not be able to purchase more. We apologize to our players in Belgium for any inconvenience caused by this change,” said EA.