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Over the last few years, the loot box drama has been slowly unfolding as more regions look into whether loot boxes are gambling and how they should be treated when it comes to games. Today, Nintendo of Europe announces that both Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Free) and Fire Emblem Heroes (Free) will be ended up Belgium for both playing and downloads. It is unclear whether this will enforce an IP block or it is just for those with accounts from those regions.

The statement posted on Twitter and the official Nintendo website states that the situation over in-game revenue models is unclear in Belgium and that is the reason for service ending. The end date is 27th August 2019 for both games. Orbs and Leaf Tickets will be usable until that day.

The bigger issues is that future games with similar in-game revenue models as Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will not be released in Belgium. Considering Fire Emblem Heroes is what earns Nintendo the most on mobile, the future looks grim for its mobile games in Belgmium. It is going to be interesting seeing if more games get pulled in Belgium or other regions where the climate around these monetization methods is unclear.



