{"id":97503,"date":"2019-01-31T10:14:04","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T18:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=97503"},"modified":"2019-01-31T10:14:04","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T18:14:04","slug":"ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/","title":{"rendered":"EA Sports Buckles Under Belgian Gambling Prosecution Threat, Removes Paid Loot Boxes in FIFA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Electronic Arts will stop selling the in-game currency of its hit FIFA soccer game series in Belgium, after authorities threatened the video games publisher with prosecution under its gambling laws.<\/p>\n

\"FIFA
EA said that while it would withdraw Belgian players\u2019 ability to buy FIFA Points, it ultimately disagreed with the Belgian gambling regulator\u2019s interpretation of the law and view that the microtransactions amount to gambling. (Image: EA Sports)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Players will still be able to earn FIFA Points through gameplay, which can be used to unlock FUT Packs — the game\u2019s loot box variant that offers randomized chances to win star soccer players and other items.<\/p>\n

In a report published in May, the Belgian gambling regulator said the paid loot box system in FIFA 18 \u201cconstitutes a game of chance in the sense of the Gaming and Betting Act\u201d in that players would pay money for a shot at winning desirable in-game items, with the prize being determined by chance.<\/a><\/p>\n

It recommended EA and other publishers modify their games to comply with Belgian law or face prosecution.<\/p>\n

Defeated but Defiant <\/strong><\/h2>\n

EA has persistently denied that the microtransactions within its games constitute any form of gambling whatsoever, but ultimately, unlike Belgian authorities, it wasn\u2019t prepared to test its theories in a court of law.<\/p>\n

After further discussions with the Belgian authorities, we have decided to stop offering FIFA Points for sale in Belgium,\u201d EA said in an official statement. \u201cWe’re working to make these changes effective in our FIFA console and PC games by 31 January 2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“While we are taking this action, we do not agree with Belgian authorities’ interpretation of the law, and we will continue to seek more clarity on the matter as we go forward,” it added.<\/p>\n

Are Loot Boxes Gambling?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

EA CEO Andrew Wilson said last May that FIFA Points do not constitute gambling because there is no way for players to cash out or trade the virtual currency for real-world money via third-party sites \u2013 although in his next sentence he appeared to acknowledge that third-party trading exists.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd while we forbid the transfer of items of in-the-game currency outside, we also actively seek to eliminate that where it\u2019s going on in an illegal environment, and we work with regulators in various jurisdictions to achieve that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Opinions of regulators around the world differ widely on whether loot boxes in general constitute gambling. Along with Belgium, Holland, China and Japan have regulated loot-boxes under their respective gambling laws, while investigations by regulators in many more countries are currently ongoing.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Epic Games, publisher of the phenomenally successful Fortnite series, announced<\/a> that it would make its own paid loot boxes transparent, so that prospective buyers can see exactly what they might win, in a bid to swerve accusations of gambling.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Electronic Arts will stop selling the in-game currency of its hit FIFA soccer game series in Belgium, after authorities threatened the video games publisher with prosecution under its gambling laws. Players will still be able to earn FIFA Points through gameplay, which can be used to unlock FUT Packs — the game\u2019s loot box variant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":97508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,3313,60,13592,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEA Sports Buckles Under Belgian Gambling Prosecution Threat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"EA sports will remove paid-for FIFA Points in Belgium, where it faced prosecution under the country\u2019s gambling laws after the regulator ruled FIFA loot boxes mechanisms were gambling.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EA Sports Buckles Under Belgian Gambling Prosecution Threat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EA sports will remove paid-for FIFA Points in Belgium, where it faced prosecution under the country\u2019s gambling laws after the regulator ruled FIFA loot boxes mechanisms were gambling.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-31T18:14:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/FIFA.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/\",\"name\":\"EA Sports Buckles Under Belgian Gambling Prosecution Threat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/FIFA.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-31T18:14:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-31T18:14:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"EA sports will remove paid-for FIFA Points in Belgium, where it faced prosecution under the country\u2019s gambling laws after the regulator ruled FIFA loot boxes mechanisms were gambling.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ea-sports-buckles-under-belgian-gambling-prosecution-threat\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/FIFA.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/FIFA.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"EA said that while it would withdraw Belgian players\u2019 ability to buy FIFA Points, it ultimately disagreed with the Belgian gambling regulator\u2019s interpretation of the law and view that the microtransactions amount to gambling. 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