Paid loot boxes removed from Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm in Belgium - Sensationalist Headlines

https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-removes-paid-loot-boxes-from-overwatch-and-heroes-of-the-storm-in-belgium/ The fallout from European loot box rulings continued over the weekend as Blizzard announced that it is removing paid loot boxes and chests from Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm players in Belgium. The country's Gambling Commission ruled in April that the loot boxes available for purchase in Overwatch and other games contravene Belgium's gambling regulations. "While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion and do not share the same opinion, we have decided to comply with their interpretation of Belgian law," Blizzard said in a statement. "As a result, we have no choice but to implement measures that will prevent Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm players located in Belgium from purchasing in-game loot boxes and loot chests with real money and gems."

Note that it's very likely they don't get shit all to make up for this. They can only get their crappy free boxes instead.

While we at Blizzard were surprised by this conclusion and do not share the same opinion Of course not. That'd be pro-consumer thinking.

Of course they would have no incentive to give something else. That would mean players would be more motivated to further take down loot boxes.

I have nearly every cosmetic in overwatch that I've wanted even a little and I haven't paid a dime for a box. If you actually plsy the game and don't obsessively need every new skin as they come out, you're never going to have (or maybe even want) to buy a lootbox.

Then I guess you aren't going to get as many cosmetics as you apparently want and the world keeps spinning.

i mean, good? you shouldn't spend money on loot boxes at all, especially not in a game you paid full price for.

I personally play the game for the game, not for the skins. I'm also not really sure why players would care about specific skins unless they sunk a lot of time into the game regularly, in which case they would either get the skin or get enough currency to buy it.

Just buy the skin you want with currency?

Only in Belgium.

If you don't have a job or other interests, maybe. Good luck getting the specific event-locked skin you want in a two weeks window.

I'm not sure how it could be seen as "unfair" it's just how the system works. Rarer duplicates = more credits. Legendary skins aren't particularly rare, and they're very reasonably cheap and can be reasonably earned without farming. If the items were easier to get, it would ruin the point of them to be honest. It's already not that difficult to get the rarest of the rare items.

One down, one hundred and ninety four to go. Meanwhile in the US: https://i.imgur.com/xLZgH8p.jpg Please drink verification can to continue.

I was super goddamn excited until I saw the last two words of the title. Still great news, but man just wish they'd do it everywhere.

o no, what a problemo big deal, if the game needs lootboxes to reel you in, then the game has failed

You can't save credits for every skin you want at a given event, especially given the measly amounts you get from dupes. Really the whole "limited time only" bullshit is designed to make people put their hand to the wallet out of frustration.

oh nice, free pop tarts with my loot box

The point of skins is to give your character a look that you like. What does that have to do with their rarity, exactly?

This doesn't even seem like a reward. Don't lootboxes require you to buy a key to open? It's like getting a free coupon for a stay at a motel if you attend a 4 hour timeshare presentation

This is awesome news. It's a small win for now, but hopefully more and more countries start to make similar movements against scummy microtransaction methods. Soon enough, microtransactions won't seem financially viable against the backlash they usually receive. Hopefully, one day.

Most illegal casinos games with lootboxes give you the boxes for free and you have to pay to get a key, but Overwatch eliminates the middle man and just charges for the boxes.

The system has had several changes from launch. For one, you no longer get dupes unless you already own everything of the rarity of that particular piece of loot. They increased the amount of credit drops that supposedly compensates for this so now you should be getting more cosmetics plus the same amount of credits as before. They also made event cosmetics purchasable during the event (and during the anniversary when you can buy every event specific cosmetic) although they have triple price compared to non-event cosmetics.

Is overwatch that popular?

Yes

As far as lootboxes go I never minded the overwatch ones. If they're providing free content I'm not fussed about paid cosmetic shit on the side. That being said, maybe we would see a better way to monetize than loot boxes.

The whole "They're adding content" thing is not a good defense for it. It's like it assumes that that free content is only of benefit to the players, that potentially that they're going out of their way to do so, or even that microtransactions are somehow funding that game support, when that is not the case. Adding new content helps the game maintain a playerbase which in turn keeps game sales going over a longer period, as well as giving a positive image for the game/company. There's also that, with a game like Overwatch, they made (and continue to make) far, far more than enough money on game sales alone to be able to support the game for many years. Microtransactions are not needed to be able to support the game, those and the free content aren't going to be correlated to that extent.

Man I can't imagine getting free content for a game, that would be way too greedy, especially since you already paid for the game itself. Blizzard really needs money guys. WoW doesn't give them enough to support other games. /s

I can think of two: Let people buy specific items rather than forcing them to gamble Let people just buy the game itself and include all the content with the game purchase.

I wouldn't care too much about loot boxes if the game was free to play. I paid 60 dollars for it already

I'd rather this then Season passes/DLC splitting up multiplayer communities.