"Diablo Immortal" was released to mobile gamers in various parts of the world earlier than the expected rollout of the Blizzard Entertainment smartphone gaming title.
However, the free-to-play mobile title of the massive Diablo franchise is leaving out countries like Belgium and the Netherlands. But why?
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LEIPZIG, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 15: A participant stands with a mobile phone to play a video game at the 2019 DreamHack video gaming festival on February 15, 2019 in Leipzig, Germany.
'Diablo Immortal' Releases
As per a news story by The Verge, the release date of the "Diablo Immortal" should have been on June 2, but surprisingly the mobile gaming title welcomed its players on Wednesday, June 1.
The new Diablo game somewhat brings the experience of the massive franchise to the growing number of mobile gamers.
It is worth noting that tons of PC and console games have started expanding to mobile versions to please the growing word of smartphone players.
In fact, Sony previously announced that it plans to double its PC and mobile game offerings moving forward, aside from its sought-after releases for PlayStation.
However, The Verge notes that the announcement of the new Diablo mobile game was not received well by some of its purist fans. Some upset folks believe that the new title could ruin the traditional gaming experience of the Blizzard series.
Despite that, it did not discourage Blizzard Entertainment to push through with the global release of "Diablo Immortal" on mobile devices.
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IRVINE, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 18: The Blizzard Entertainment campus is shown on January 18, 2022 in Irvine, California. Microsoft announced a $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard in the largest gaming industry deal ever.
The free-to-play game is now available for download in various parts of the world, except for two locations in the European region. Here's the reason behind the exemption:
'Diablo Immortal' Release Leaves out the Netherlands, Belgium
According to a recent report by CNET, as early as May, Blizzard Entertainment has already confirmed that the release of "Diablo Immortal" is leaving out two locations.
An employee from Blizzard Entertainment wrote on a Diablo subreddit that fans of the franchise in places like the Netherlands and Belgium, unfortunately, are missing out on the latest release.
The Reddit post confirmed that "Diablo Immortal" would be unavailable in those countries, citing the laws in these European nations.
Both territories have anti-gambling laws which prohibit one of the hottest offerings of mobile games these days - loot boxes. It is to note that this has been the rule for these nations since 2018.
As a result, the latest Diablo game, which has loot boxes on its mobile app, is skipping these European countries to abide by their local anti-gambling rules.
CNET reports that attempting to play the new mobile game in the Netherlands and Belgium via whatever loophole comes with a risk of getting completely banned from Battle.net.
Related Article: 'Diablo Immortal' Teases New Accessibility Features, Sends Out Razer Kishi Controller
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Written by Teejay Boris
