Diablo Immortal Won’t Release In Belgium Or Netherlands Due to Loot Boxes


Diablo Immortal will not be launching in Belgium or the Netherlands due to the game’s loot boxes.

The new Diablo game arrives on mobile devices and PC later this week. The game is in open beta, but some players in certain countries won’t be allowed to play it.

That’s because Belgium and the Netherlands both introduced new laws banning randomised loot boxes in video games. When Diablo Immortal pre-registration went live, it was instantly disabled in those countries. This means players in Belgium or the Netherlands won’t have legitimate access to the game under any circumstances.

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A message on the Diablo Immortal subreddit reads “Unfortunately players in the Netherlands and Belgium will not be able to install Diablo Immortal due to the countries’ gambling restrictions. The loot boxes in the game are against the law in your country, so unless gambling restrictions change the game will not be released in the Netherlands and Belgium.”

Credit: Activision Blizzard

Diablo Immortal Loot Boxes – Can You Download From Another Country?

Tough luck for Diablo fans in those countries then. It’s also illegal for players in these countries to download the game from another country. You could be banned for doing so if you’re found out.

Despite that, Blizzard support says “in similar situations in the past where RNG loot boxes were against the law in certain countries we did not ban any players for it.” So it’s possible that players could still get to experience the game by circumventing the ban.

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The ban on random loot boxes are a result of these countries taking a strong stance against gambling in games. A huge debate about the topic sparked a few years ago, particularly around the time EA was introducing pay-to-win loot boxes in games like Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Since then, Belgium and the Netherlands have been more strict than most countries when it comes to loot boxes.