Pokémon Unite, the popular Pokémon spin-off in the MOBA genre (similar to League of Legends or DOTA 2) is being discontinued in Belgium and the Netherlands. Affected users woke up yesterday with a notice of termination, also posted on their website.
The final day for the game will be November 30, 2025 (yes, 2025). That day, the game will no longer be available to download. Players won’t be able to purchase in-game items from October 31 2024.
While no reason for the decision has been confirmed by its developer TiMi, is is safe to assume it is due to strict legislation against loot boxes in both countries. Since 2018, Belgiam considers loot boxes in the same category as gambling, making them illegal unless its developers possess a gambling license.
It was later studied that the ban wasn’t really effective, as many games still got away with it. But The Pokémon Company doesn’t want trouble… and TiMi Studios doesn’t seem to care much about Belgium and Dutch players: some games like Overwatch simply removed the loot boxes from its versions, but TiMi has decided it’s easier to simply remove the game.