Diablo Immortal, Blizzard Entertainment’s free-to-play Diablo game, is set to launch on Windows PC and mobile on Wednesday. But it will reportedly remain offline in two European countries: Belgium and the Netherlands.
This is due to the strict loot box laws of these countries, according to a report from GamesIndustry.biz and the Dutch website Tweakers. A Blizzard support employee also reportedly told a Reddit user that it was due to gambling restrictions. In the past, Blizzard has simply removed loot box systems from the Belgian releases of its games, e.g. Overwatch and Heroes of the storm. Representatives have said the move is intended to comply with the rules of the Belgian Gambling Commission. But instead choose not to bring Diablo Immortal to Belgium and the Netherlands can be a hint as to how complicated these systems are in this game.
Blizzard has not responded to Polygon’s request for comment.
Blizzard showed some of Diablo Immortal‘s cosmetic and customization options for the mobile game in March. It said Diablo Immortal‘s new Class Change system would help support this, with plans to “roll out a new cosmetic set for all classes each month”, each matching the Battle Pass theme. Battle passes are an integral part of free-to-play games where players must purchase the pass to unlock rewards for playing.
However, Blizzard has said that everyone Diablo Immortals custom gear will be available to earn through games instead of just through purchases.
Like Belgium, the Netherlands has also previously ruled against loot boxes in games, specifically in FIFA 21‘s Ultimate Team mode. But that decision was overturned in 2022 in a lawsuit that ruled that card packages were not considered gambling under Dutch law.
Diablo Immortal, first announced at BlizzCon 2018, was developed by Blizzard and NetEase. The game was delayed until 2022 in August 2021 after feedback from the game’s alpha test periods.