Pocket Camp to be Shut Down in Belgium Due to Loot Box Laws

[Ossiran]

According to Eurogamer, due to the laws passed in Belgium regarding loot boxes, Pocket Camp will be shut down in Belgium. Just a heads-up for anyone playing there.

Article can be found here: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...bile-games-in-belgium-over-loot-box-law-fears

 

[Phawnix]

Not surprising. I've been waiting for the laws to catch up to these greedy game development practices. I'm hoping a similar bill will be passed in North America soon so game developers will have to re-structure and remove loot boxes.

 

[GolguiAr]

Oh wow that's pretty serious! And thanks for the article, I do not live in Belgium but I did not know there was a Fire Emblem on the App Store, I will have to check it out ah ah

 

[Stella-Io]

Maybe Nintendo will finally get the damn message now.

 

[DubiousDelphine]

Wow. That is some inititave from Belgium
I wonder if big games will be removed too.. like overwatch.

 

[Nougat]

Oh that's just.. great. Guess where I live I have no clue about what will happen to my account and all of my items now. I've been playing since day one.

Sad that they didn't just disable the possibility of buying any Leaf tickets, which would be compliant while they work things out..

 

[lars708]

Wow it's actually going to be taken down? That's so weird... I suppose it's not as simple as disabling the microtransactions for players in Belgium huh? Because to me it seems like an easy workaround...

 

[Nougat]

Wow it's actually going to be taken down? That's so weird... I suppose it's not as simple as disabling the microtransactions for players in Belgium huh? Because to me it seems like an easy workaround...

I think it would be fairly simple indeed, just disabling the possibility of buying Leaf Tickets would be fine and compliant with the law. It's just that they know they won't be making any money with the game anymore, so why invest even the smallest amount of resources in a workaround, right? It's all about the $$$. Or €€€ in this case

 

[lars708]

I think it would be fairly simple indeed, just disabling the possibility of buying Leaf Tickets would be fine and compliant with the law. It's just that they know they won't be making any money with the game anymore, so why invest even the smallest amount of resources in a workaround, right? It's all about the $$$. Or €€€ in this case

I mean they could put advertisements or something right? I dunno... Or maybe just remove the fortune cookies? Because the Leaf Tickets aren't necessarily the problem.

Oh well, the decision has already been made they won't budge

 

[2kimi2furious]

That really stinks! I don't live in Belgium and I don't play the game anymore, but I can see how that's devastating for those who do. I'm sorry, friends. I hope they can reach a new decision instead.

 

[Alienfish]

Maybe Nintendo will finally get the damn message now.

yeah, honestly I hope the rest of the world will follow. PC is getting even dumber than the way FEH is going and literally all those loot gacha game should honestly de.

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Wow it's actually going to be taken down? That's so weird... I suppose it's not as simple as disabling the microtransactions for players in Belgium huh? Because to me it seems like an easy workaround...

Honestly, I don't think it's that easy because, yeah money and if they can only give out LT's for free they have to either make it a paid full game or just give up on it and make LT's goals only etc. Probably a bit weird phrases but I hope you get the idea.

Anyway, proof that Ninty can't keep their devs in the corner obviously, like bruh.

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Also advertisements is the worst idea, this is supposed to be for also younger audiences and depending on what source you would use you could get very inappropriate things, so no. I'd rather just quit it imo.

 

[DragoDrago]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to you guys living in Belgium who have been playing for ages I never really played pocket camp, all the micro transactions scared me away haha I'm just desperately hoping the switch game won't be like that

 

[cornimer]

That really sucks, especially for people who have invested lots of time and money into the game and are now left with nothing. As a courtesy for players' loyalty Nintendo should leave it open and work out a compromise even if they can't profit anymore.

 

[That Marshal Fangirl]

I don't really understand why people can't spend their money how they want within reason. Completely banning loot boxes seems opressive somehow.

 

[MapleSilver]

I would look into getting a VPN if your country is trying to ban lootboxes. I'm not an expert in this stuff, but a lot of those services can make your device appear to be from another country. Just something to consider if you want to continue playing these games. Of course I'm sure governments will try banning VPNs at some point, but for the time being they are an incredibly useful service.

 

[DJStarstryker]

I don't really understand why people can't spend their money how they want within reason. Completely banning loot boxes seems opressive somehow.

It's because some people see loot boxes as similar to gambling. A lot of places restrict gambling to only adults, and sometimes only certain types of gambling is even legal in a country. It starts getting into the morality of gambling, and how it's addictive and makes you spend more money than you should. There's plenty of people who don't have enough self-control for their money, to their own detriment.

I'm personally against loot boxes, but not because of gambling morality. I think loot boxes are ruining gaming. Game companies put them in because they see lots of dollar signs, but then the game developer makes it so you can't (or is very difficult) to get these things when playing the game naturally, or they will put very little effort into the rest of the game and just expect you to pay-to-win.

 

[Nougat]

I don't really understand why people can't spend their money how they want within reason. Completely banning loot boxes seems opressive somehow.

In Belgium these are not banned because of a pure ban on loot boxes, but because of a law that defines illegal games of chance.
This law has been in effect for years and years, and recently the Gaming Commission has made it crystal clear (after an in-depth analysis of multiple video games and their monetisation tactics) that loot boxes are in fact an illegal game a chance. There is no skill involved in the item you're getting: it's purely chance. Exactly this mechanic defines it as an illegal game of chance, as there is no license given for this game of chance to be implemented in these video games. In Belgium, it's very heavily regulated which games of chance can be operated and where. The Gaming Commission has a website with more info, for those interested: https://www.gamingcommission.be/opencms/opencms/jhksweb_en/law/.

Nintendo implied in their messaging about the shutdown of these games that they are doing this because of "the unclear situation regarding the law on loot boxes", but it's interesting to know that the Minister of Justice has already given media the response that it's very clear: without the loot boxes, the games are perfectly fine to operate and monetise.

So to summarise: you can of course monetise your game in Belgium, as long as what it is exactly that players are buying is not left up to chance. So if I'd want to buy those new Fairy Wings, I would be allowed to spend $100 or even $1000 on it if that is what Nintendo charges. But Nintendo is not allowed to get me to buy 20 Fortune Cookies (even if they cost only $1 each) and still not get a single Fairy Wings set. And we all know this has happened to many players before

 

[Phawnix]

In Belgium these are not banned because of a pure ban on loot boxes, but because of a law that defines illegal games of chance.
This law has been in effect for years and years, and recently the Gaming Commission has made it crystal clear (after an in-depth analysis of multiple video games and their monetisation tactics) that loot boxes are in fact an illegal game a chance. There is no skill involved in the item you're getting: it's purely chance. Exactly this mechanic defines it as an illegal game of chance, as there is no license given for this game of chance to be implemented in these video games. In Belgium, it's very heavily regulated which games of chance can be operated and where. The Gaming Commission has a website with more info, for those interested: https://www.gamingcommission.be/opencms/opencms/jhksweb_en/law/.

Nintendo implied in their messaging about the shutdown of these games that they are doing this because of "the unclear situation regarding the law on loot boxes", but it's interesting to know that the Minister of Justice has already given media the response that it's very clear: without the loot boxes, the games are perfectly fine to operate and monetise.

So to summarise: you can of course monetise your game in Belgium, as long as what it is exactly that players are buying is not left up to chance. So if I'd want to buy those new Fairy Wings, I would be allowed to spend $100 or even $1000 on it if that is what Nintendo charges. But Nintendo is not allowed to get me to buy 20 Fortune Cookies (even if they cost only $1 each) and still not get a single Fairy Wings set. And we all know this has happened to many players before

I'm sorry to hear you won't be able to play anymore. You definitely have a unique perspective of this whole situation being that you're in the middle of it. I've always wanted game developers to face the music and take loot boxes OUT of their games, not shut down the game entirely for a whole region. I hope you, or Nintendo, can find a way around this issue. Please, if you can, keep us up to date on your situation. Maybe things will change for the better in the future.

 

[Justin]

I think Nintendo prefers to just shut down the games entirely rather than simply temporarily disable in-app purchases mostly as a sort of power move against the regulation / government. By taking away the games entirely, it makes more of a dramatic effect essentially saying, let us do what they want or we'll just close out of your country entirely. And that also sets an example and warning for other countries considering similar laws of what will happen if they do so. Not to mention potential political pressure from their residents upset over losing complete access to games.

Not that I'm defending that practice, but that's probably the reasoning here.

Really appreciate your perspective by the way Nougat. It's easy for people from other countries to say it's good, but they're not dealing with the ramifications of having the game taken away from them entirely, even after they've already dumped lots of money into it potentially.

 

[Nougat]

I'm sorry to hear you won't be able to play anymore. You definitely have a unique perspective of this whole situation being that you're in the middle of it. I've always wanted game developers to face the music and take loot boxes OUT of their games, not shut down the game entirely for a whole region. I hope you, or Nintendo, can find a way around this issue. Please, if you can, keep us up to date on your situation. Maybe things will change for the better in the future.

I think Nintendo prefers to just shut down the games entirely rather than simply temporarily disable in-app purchases mostly as a sort of power move against the regulation / government. By taking away the games entirely, it makes more of a dramatic effect essentially saying, let us do what they want or we'll just close out of your country entirely. And that also sets an example and warning for other countries considering similar laws of what will happen if they do so. Not to mention potential political pressure from their residents upset over losing complete access to games.

Not that I'm defending that practice, but that's probably the reasoning here.

Really appreciate your perspective by the way Nougat. It's easy for people from other countries to say it's good, but they're not dealing with the ramifications of having the game taken away from them entirely, even after they've already dumped lots of money into it potentially.

I was quite angry/disappointed about it yesterday, since I really love playing the game, but I've calmed down today. We're just too small of a country for Nintendo to make any changes to the game, so as much as I'm disappointed about not being able to play anymore I understand their decision. And I definitely agree with what you're saying Justin, this is a big precedent so I bet this won't be solved overnight either.

I'll just play more New Leaf for the moment and spend some time hoping that the Switch version does not contain any loot box mechanics, so it doesn't get banned here as well. That'd really break my heart!

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Also, I'm doubting whether to keep playing until the end (still have three months left to play!) in hopes of everything magically being resolved in the meanwhile. If not, I guess I'll just take some screenshots to remember my campsite with