Kingdom hearts union X withdrawn in Belgium due to lootbox law

[kumikochan]

Sad news was brought by Square Enix today and Kingdom hearts Union X will be completely removed in Belgium due to the lootbox laws.

Their statement on the matter goes as follows

An important notice for all our followers
We regret to inform you due to the present uncertain legal status of loot boxes under Belgian law, Kingdom hearts union X will be withdrawn from from service in Belgium in 30 days, on Dec 6m 2018 (UTC) at the earliest.

Other games that will be removed are
- Mobius Final Fantasy
- Final Fantasy brave Exvius
- Dissidia Final Fantasy

 

[FAST6191]

On the one hand I am not sad that anything that has lootboxes so entrenched in the system that the game can not work without it (which is the implication here) is removed. On the other it is not a great precedent in some regards.

I tweaked the title to be slightly more reflective of the content as well.

 

[kumikochan]

On the one hand I am not sad that anything that has lootboxes so entrenched in the system that the game can not work without it (which is the implication here) is removed. On the other it is not a great precedent in some regards.

I tweaked the title to be slightly more reflective of the content as well.

Thanks for the tweaking of the title, much better indeed

 

[KingVamp]

Didn't know Kingdom Hearts Union X was a thing.

 

[kumikochan]

Didn't know Kingdom Hearts Union X was a thing.

It's the biggest part of the entire series storywise. If you haven't played union x then you can't understand a thing that will happen in KH3

 

[Izual Urashima]

As a long time player of Brave Exvius, it pains me to see that Square Enix chooses the easy way out. That being said, I'll remind a thing or two to Belgian players.

- Belgian law gives other alternatives to mobile game creators - Either assume their gacha mechanics are gambling and treat the game as such (warnings, PEGI rating changed, total display of all gacha rates), or more simply, block all microtransactions for Belgian IPs, forcing them to become F2P (games like Dokkan Battle and Hearthstone did it effectively). Be sure to contact support about these to put some pressure into them
- In the event the game becomes locked, you are entitled to ask for a refund of all money you've spent into it as per European law. Apple and Google can't refuse this for prepaid cards since it'd cause them problems with UE, and you can ask it directly through your bank if you paid directly with your credit card. The motive ? You can't access the game due to reasons you have no control or implication onto. Oh, and once it's done, be sure to point it out on social networks, with pictures to alert them.
- Neither you or the Belgian law is culprit in this case. There were other options than a total shutdown of the games, and Square Enix simply took the option based on the fact that blocking payers (yeah, payers, not players) cost them less than to implement a free solution.
- If you reeeeeeeeeeeeally want to keep playing through the games, VPN solutions exist to make the game believe you moved out to either South Africa or Austria. Just don't expect to be able to pay for the game once you've done it.

 

[kumikochan]

As a long time player of Brave Exvius, it pains me to see that Square Enix chooses the easy way out. That being said, I'll remind a thing or two to Belgian players.

- Belgian law gives other alternatives to mobile game creators - Either assume their gacha mechanics are gambling and treat the game as such (warnings, PEGI rating changed, total display of all gacha rates), or more simply, block all microtransactions for Belgian IPs, forcing them to become F2P (games like Dokkan Battle and Hearthstone did it effectively). Be sure to contact support about these to put some pressure into them
- In the event the game becomes locked, you are entitled to ask for a refund of all money you've spent into it as per European law. Apple and Google can't refuse this for prepaid cards since it'd cause them problems with UE, and you can ask it directly through your bank if you paid directly with your credit card. The motive ? You can't access the game due to reasons you have no control or implication onto. Oh, and once it's done, be sure to point it out on social networks, with pictures to alert them.
- Neither you or the Belgian law is culprit in this case. There were other options than a total shutdown of the games, and Square Enix simply took the option based on the fact that blocking payers (yeah, payers, not players) cost them less than to implement a free solution.
- If you reeeeeeeeeeeeally want to keep playing through the games, VPN solutions exist to make the game believe you moved out to either South Africa or Austria. Just don't expect to be able to pay for the game once you've done it.

Yeah i agree, square enix took the lazy approach and is hellbend on doing lootboxes. The game plays perfectly fine without micro transactions and they could have easily made it so that you could buy the items without the need of a lootbox mechanic. It's just Square Enix being a spoiled little kid that doesn't want to change their ways and hopes by doing this gamers will revolt against the goverment who made them do this.

 

[the_randomizer]

Lootboxes suck, they ruin otherwise perfectly good games.