Nintendo is pulling Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes from app stores in Belgium due to the "current unclear situation" in regards to the nations anti-gambling laws directly affecting loot boxes and in-game currency.
"Due to the current unclear situation in Belgium regarding certain in-game revenue models, we have decided to end the service for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes in Belgium. It will therefore no longer be possible to play and download the games from Tuesday 27th August 2019.
"Players who still have orbs and /or leaf tickets in their accounts can continue to use them until the service ends.
"In addition future Nintendo games with similar earning models will no longer be released in Belgium.
"We would like to thank all players in Belgium for playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes."
Both games use a form of in-game currency. Fire Emblem Heroes uses Orbs to buy randomized heroes from the Fire Emblem franchise. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp uses Leaf Tickets to decrease wait timers.
Screengrab from Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
While there are ways to earn in-game currency in both titles, the amount players can earn are very limited and players are to buy orbs or leaf tickets, especially if an item or hero is rare and will only be available for a limited time.
Screengrab from Fire Emblem Heroes
Last year, Belgium courts declared that loot boxes are a form of gambling after investigating multiple games including Overwatch, FIFA, and Star Wars Battlefront 2. EA was the only publisher to dig in and openly opposed the ruling, stating that they did not agree with the court's definition of gambling. Realizing they were in a losing situation, EA removed FIFA points from FIFA 2018 and FIFA 2019 in Belgium.
It appears that the United States is following Belgium's example and is currently trying to pass a bill to regulate loot boxes in the senate called the "Protecting Children From Abusive Games Act." The author, Senator Josh Hawley, is accusing the video game industry of knowingly exploiting children by exposing them to addictive gambling practices.
“When a game is designed for kids, game developers shouldn’t be allowed to monetize addiction,” Senator Josh Hawley said in a press release. “And when kids play games designed for adults, they should be walled off from compulsive microtransactions. Game developers who knowingly exploit children should face legal consequences.”
Neon Comet Gaming asked Nintendo if they would pull Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Fire Emblem Heroes from U.S. app stores if the bill was passed, or if they would simply remove the ability to purchase in-game currency from their mobile games. Nintendo has not responded.
Nintendo isn’t the only publisher pulling games from Belgian app stores. Square Enix also pulled three of their mobile games, Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, Kingdom Hearts Union X, and Mobius Final Fantasy, out of Belgium.
Belgian players will be able to purchase Orbs and Leaf Tickets from until August 27th, 2019. After that, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will no longer be available for download in Belgium.
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