Microtransactions & Live Services (but no Loot Boxes) in Anthem

It's shady because it violates the cult of $60 Forever number 1 tenet. While the cult of Only A Chump Pays $60 For A Game, Wait For The Sale think the $60 Forever guys are a bunch of dilettantes.

Game reviewers often don't even bother to finish a game before posting reviews. They miss tons of stuff already, so how would this be any different?

Again, if it's added later, it isn't necessary to play the game.

Do you think it's "shady" to sell item packs after a game has been out for some amount of time? Optional goodies that generally make additional PTs a breeze because what they include is so OP?

It was posted, but the problem is they make those claims without indicating what in the game is doing that, so we don't know their logic behind their reasoning yet.  For all we know its due to third party sites using in-game items outside of the game.  Think of the gambling issues around CS:GO here recently and I have heard there is a grey market for FIFA.  So if they are ruling its gambling based on things outside of the publishers control it might change, for I have not heard of any changes to those games yet for that region.

Forming a government is a different thing to formulating updated legal rulesets that include online business practices.
Usually a country doesn't go headless chicken when a new government isn't formed yet, the old one just conducts business until a new one can take over.
EU states are still sovereign bodies and can make their own legislation - even more so if it isn't already regulated via EU regulation.

I am pretty sure they would just geo-lock out the Ultimate Team from Belgian fans just like how other content for other games can be locked out that way as well.

I get that they came to this conclusion while investigating loot boxes, but I find most politicians are still to the age where video games are still not fully understood just like in North America were "violet video games can cause children to be aggressive" comments that have been made.

So there might be something linked that they saw that wasn't directly linked to lootboxes themselves, but they thought it was.  Just like a few years ago where people were convicted in the US when trading coins from FIFA into real currency.  It could be something like that for the other games I believe have a way to "cash out" in some sort which was also what Valve was asked to fix with the CS:GO gambling issue, which they just ignored from the Washington Gaming Commission.

Of course they could just see lootboxes in that light, but I really don't think EA would have not investigated what is considered gambling in the EU.

If only because they are conscious of the scrutiny they’re under, I’m expecting EA will launch Anthem with direct purchase micro transactions only.  I wouldn’t put it past them to try and add a random bundle to the store at a later point.

Me too. Seems pretty unlikely, but the longer they delay, the bigger the backlash. It's pretty much a losing PR situation no matter what they do, given that no recurring revenue at all is a non-starter.

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Bugs, glitches and whatnot will be freely supported in Anthem. That is their initial priority post launch. Then come "live-services" = mtxs. New mission quests will come after that.... imo.

Possibly the model Anthem will follow...?

Kotaku
Battlefield V won’t have a Premium Pass - or loot boxes.
kotaku.com/heres-our-first-look-at-battlefield-v-which-goes-back-1826271285

There won’t be any sort of “premium pass” or season pass in Battlefield V. You won’t have to pay for maps or modes, nor will you be able to buy anything that affects gameplay — as we reported earlier this year, DICE is being cautious after the outrage over last year’s Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Shortly after the reveal, EA confirmed to Kotaku that the game will not have any form of randomized loot boxes. Previously, a report had suggested that the next Battlefield would have cosmetic-only loot boxes, but at the time, sources told Kotaku that report was premature and that decisions had not yet been made. “I can confirm that there are no loot boxes,” an EA rep said in an e-mail.