Nintendo to Shut Down Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp in Belgium Over Loot Box Fears

Nintendo will be adding to the growing list of games that will no longer be available in Belgium, after officials declared loot boxes as a form of gambling, and vowed to ban them.

The two titles, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, will no longer be distributed to smartphone accounts based in Belgium. A statement on the official Nintendo Belgium website also explained when the games would no longer be available, that purchased currency could still be spent and that future monetized games would not be released in the region:


“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 account can continue to use them until the service ends. In addition, future Nintendo games with similar earnings 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.”

Other games that have pulled services from the region include Kingdom Hearts Union X [Cross], Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omina, and Mobius Final Fantasy. EA meanwhile removed premium currency from FIFA 18 and FIFA 19.

For those outside of Belgium, Fire Emblem Heroes and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp are available now on Android and iOS.

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Ryan was a former Niche Gamer contributor.


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