Nintendo will be shutting down some mobile games in Belgium over loot box laws

0
48

Gotcha!

Nintendo will be removing both Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes from Belgian mobile stores by the end of August. In a Tweet from Nintendo of Belgium, the company stated, “Due to the current unclear situation in Belgium regarding certain revenue models of games, the service for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes will be stopped in Belgium on 27 August 2019.”

In a longer statement on its official website, Nintendo added, “Players who still have Orbs and/or Leaf Tickets in their account can continue to use them until the service ends. In addition, future Nintendo games with similar earnings models will no longer be released in Belgium. We would like to thank all players in Belgium for playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes.

The current situation Nintendo is referring to has to do with loot boxes being declared gambling by the Dutch Gaming Authority last year. This declaration has resulted in EA, 2K, and Blizzard removing microtransactions from its games in the region, something that Nintendo is now getting around to. Instead of simply removing the options, though, it seems Nintendo has opted for a more nuclear approach.

Belangrijke informatie voor gebruikers in België [Nintendo of Belgium via Eurogamer]