Diablo Immortal online play is already available in some countries. But not in Belgium and the Netherlands – due to local rules about loot boxes, which were equated with gambling

The shareware mobile game Diablo Immortal is already available in some countries. This is the latest game in the long-running Diablo franchise and the first to be released not only for PC, but also for mobile devices. Diablo Immortal can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play .

By the way, the game was quite gluttonous. On a mobile device, it takes 12 GB: 2 GB is downloaded first, and then another 10 are required.

Both PC and mobile platform users can play with each other. In addition, players can change character classes in the middle of the campaign while maintaining overall progress.

Fun fact: This release ended the longest period that Blizzard didn’t release a new game. The company’s previous record, from World of Warcraft to StarCraft II, was 2,072 days. From the release of Overwatch to June 1, 2022, 2199 days have passed.

Activision Blizzard has confirmed that Diablo Immortal will not be released in Belgium and the Netherlands, unlike other countries. According to Eurogamer , these two countries opposed loot boxes in games as they equated them with gambling.

“Diablo Immortal will not be available in Belgium or the Netherlands, nor will it appear on Battle.net, the Belgian and Dutch apps, or the Google Play Store. This is due to the current operating environment for games in those countries. Accordingly, pre-registration of the game in these markets is not available, ”a representative of the game publisher told the publication.

In 2018, the Belgian Gaming Commission said loot boxes in video games “violate gambling laws” and ordered the feature removed from games sold in the country. EA, which uses one of the most successful examples of loot boxes with the FIFA franchise, has announced it will stop selling in-game currency in Belgium. Similar mechanics have also been disabled in Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, writes Polygon .

The situation in the Netherlands is more complicated. In a 2020 ruling, the country’s Gambling Authority ordered EA to disable loot boxes in FIFA, threatening to fine hundreds of thousands of euros per week. But this year, that ruling was overturned when a court ruled that in-game card decks were not a form of gambling and lifted an earlier fine.