Opening Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s loot boxes in the Netherlands and Belgium is no longer possible after the game’s latest patch restricted access to the feature.

Legislation against the randomized items that loot box opponents call predatory have been going on for some time now with Belgium declaring back in April that loot boxes were officially categorized as a form of gambling. This ruling led to the loot boxes being deemed illegal with three games in particular – Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and FIFA 18 – found to be in violation of the law.

We've pushed another update to the Panorama Beta with various changes. Read them in full here: https://t.co/PLRKaSme70 pic.twitter.com/3QyInVBCkS

— CS:GO (@csgo_dev) July 13, 2018

Days before that, Netherlands officials took similar actions against loot boxes while examining 10 games and ruling that four of them were in violation of the country’s gambling laws. CS:GO wasn’t among the ones listed at the time, but the loot box pushback now affects the tactical shooter as well with the game’s latest patch notes adding that the loot boxes can no longer be opened by players in those countries.

Posted: Jul 17, 2018 4:32 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/07/15/cs-go-patch-loot-boxes-netherlands-belgium/