- Joined
- Sep 19, 2018
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- SL Rez
- 2002
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- Nov 2003
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In the past few years, loot boxes have become extremely controversial, with the controversy coming to a head with EA's release of Star Wars Battlefront II, where progression in a $60+ game was locked behind loot boxes bought with real money. After a huge backlash, EA completely changed how loot boxes and progression work in the game, but the damage was done. Legislators became involved, and while most stopped shy of regulating them, Belgium declared loot boxes gambling and made them illegal in games. Other big games have scrambled to make changes to their loot boxes or scrap them altogether (Shadow of War removed their marketplace in a recent patch). EA is currently risking violating the Belgian law by selling loot crates in FIFA 19. Guild Wars 2 stopped letting Belgian users buy gems to avoid violating the law.
Are Second Life's gachas considered loot boxes, and if so, could LL (and in turn, gacha sellers) run afoul of Belgian law? The fact that they are bought with a virtual currency (L$) doesn't matter, as you can buy that currency with real money.
Are Second Life's gachas considered loot boxes, and if so, could LL (and in turn, gacha sellers) run afoul of Belgian law? The fact that they are bought with a virtual currency (L$) doesn't matter, as you can buy that currency with real money.