I'm quite vocally against lootboxes (when done badly/with greed) however this news does give me cause for concern. This move can open Pandoras box that has the potential to disrupt the entire gaming industry.
To expand on my unease at this news:
My assumption (from experience in the gaming industry) is that as games become more and more expensive to make, the publishers actually noticed that they can only charge users so much before sales get hurt. The idea of lootboxes and micro-transactions would have been added to cover the costs of development and fund continued development. So when it comes to this, I actually think it's not a bad idea to have lootboxes BUT they then need to be implemented correctly and not in a cash-grab manner. What I mean by that is by offering skins, items that affect the aesthetics of your weapon/hero/units (and so on). Putting these items behind a paywall is totally fine as they do not change how you play, but at the same time offer gamers a quick and easy way to show support to the developers.
Impacts on other gaming sectors:
This is what seems unfair to me. Belgian has taken the first steps, but it's done by people that I would guess have no idea what the gaming industry looks like right now - as it totally disregards the manner in which the lootbox were implemented and the genre/market model of the game that it is in. Lootboxes implemented with good and bad practices would be affected in the same way, and it seems to ignore the fact that some games are different - what would happen to hero collecting games like South Parks Phone Destroyer, Dragonball Dokkan Battle, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes? Technically they work only because of the 'summons' that are lootboxes.
Summary and looking to the future:
Part of me is glad that action is being taken. The free2play scene and some - not all - of the AAA scene have taken things too far and need controlling. The other part of me is worried, certain sectors of the gaming industry will suffer far more and the causes of this problem (EA) will probably suffer the least.
Then you have to look to the future. With lootboxes potentially out, what will replace it? If nothing, will the prices of the games explode upwards of 100euros? Or if something replaces them, it potentially can be far worse; loopholes always exist and greed is a powerful motivator.