The next mobile and PC game from Blizzard will not cross the border of all the countries of the globe because of its controversial game mechanics.
Expected for June 2, Diablo Immortal will not be available in Belgium or the Netherlands, because of a law which aims to fight against games of chance and therefore, lootboxes.
Lootboxes in Diablo, it does not pass
Yes, Diablo Immortal, free-to-play for mobiles and PC, will integrate its batch of lootboxes, which is not to everyone’s taste and even less to that of Belgian and Dutch laws. Because unlike France and most European countries, Belgium and the Netherlands are actively fighting against game mechanics similar to the operation of lotteries. In these countries, lootboxes are considered dangerous for the psychological and financial health of players, and even more so when they are easily accessible to as many people as possible.
FIFA and its FUT system or even Overwatch had already had a hard time with our Belgian and Dutch friends and it’s Diablo Immortal’s turn to take it for its rank. The sentence has fallen and Diablo Immortal will not see the light of day in Belgium or the Netherlands.
Blizzard has also reacted to the announcement by speaking to our colleagues at Eurogamer. No excuse for the inconvenience caused, nor the players left on the floor in favor of game mechanics that everyone points to, not even a solution to the problembut a simple statement that the game will be inaccessible explaining the reason for such a decision.
Diablo Immortal will not be available in Belgium or the Netherlands, and will not appear on Battle.net or the Belgian and Dutch app or Google Play Stores. This is related to the current gaming operating environment in these countries. Therefore, pre-registrations for the game are not available in these markets.
Incidentally, some Reddit users have contacted Blizzard Europe support and the response is crystal clear. If you download the game in one of its countries, you are outlawed.
Unfortunately, players in the Netherlands and Belgium will not be able to install Diablo Immortal due to country game restrictions. The game lootboxes are against the law of your country, so unless the game restrictions change, the game will not be released. It would be illegal for you to download the game in another country like France. If you manage to launch the game, I can’t guarantee that you won’t get banned for it.
Maybe Blizzard will react as it has done in the past, but for now we can only hope that Diablo 4 doesn’t follow the same path as Immortal.
