Section 4 of 5
Rules and Regulators
Named rulings, dated legislation and ongoing regulatory fights that have reshaped how live-service games operate commercially.
Section 4 of 5
Named rulings, dated legislation and ongoing regulatory fights that have reshaped how live-service games operate commercially.
The shelf — attributed and dated
5 pieces in this section
Belgian Gaming Commission publishes four-game assessment; three titles classified as gambling under the 1999 Gaming Act
In: The Belgian Gaming Commission Ruled in 2018. Five Years On, the Industry Is Still Arguing About It.
EA removes paid loot boxes from Star Wars Battlefront II ahead of ruling, following player backlash
In: The Belgian Gaming Commission Ruled in 2018. Five Years On, the Industry Is Still Arguing About It.
Blizzard disables Overwatch loot-box purchases for Belgian players; Valve removes CS:GO paid case-opening in Belgium; EA removes FIFA Ultimate Team paid packs from Belgian sales
In: The Belgian Gaming Commission Ruled in 2018. Five Years On, the Industry Is Still Arguing About It.
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Covers the Belgian Gaming Commission's April 2018 ruling that certain loot boxes constitute gambling under Belgian law, the studios that withdrew affected systems from Belgium, and the subsequent legal and lobbying response, using the Commission's own published findings and dated press statements.
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One national regulator applying existing law to four named games, and years of argument since.
A dated legislative timeline of China's online-gaming anti-addiction regulations from the 2007 fatigue system through the 2021 minor-play-time restrictions and the 2023 draft rules on spending caps, citing the National Press and Publication Administration's own notices.
Covers the Dutch Kansspelautoriteit's parallel loot-box investigation and its June 2018 findings, comparing its approach and enforcement actions with the Belgian Commission's ruling and examining the fines levied against named publishers.
Traces the UK DCMS position from the 2017 call for evidence through the 2023 technical paper recommending age restrictions, noting the policy shift and the named reports it rests on, without editorialising the outcome.
Examines how real-money trading bans operate as contractual terms rather than law across major MMOs, the enforcement actions studios have actually taken, and how the WoW Token and similar mechanisms sit inside or outside those same terms.