Lost Ark Expands Beta To More Countries -- And Quietly Confirms Loot Boxes

We've got good news for eager Lost Ark players looking to take part in the closed beta that kicks off later this week. The beta, previously announced for North America and central Europe, has been expanded to include an additional 34 countries throughout Latin America and Oceania, as well as Estonia -- though two prominent European nations will be left out.

In an update posted yesterday, publisher Amazon Games said that it "heard loud and clear that players in other regions were eager to venture into Arkesia." As such, it's collaborated with Smilegate to make the beta available to a wider audience. There won't be in-region servers for South America and Oceania, however, which might result in high ping for players in those regions.

Here's the complete list of countries that can participate in the beta: Aland Islands (Finland), Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands (Denmark), Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar (UK), Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guernsey (UK), Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man (UK), Italy, Jamaica, Jersey (UK), Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Svalbard & Jan Mayen (Norway), Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

If you live in Belgium or The Netherlands, however, you won't be able to play in the beta, due to what Amazon labeled as "local laws and regulations regarding random in-game items" -- in other words, due to those countries' strict restrictions regarding paid loot boxes. While we're told that the loot boxes in other countries' version of the game are strictly cosmetic in nature, it also feels a little disingenuous to label them as "in-game items," and it might also have been nice of Amazon to mention their existence in the business model post from last week.

The Lost Ark closed beta kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (4 p.m. UTC) on November 4 and ends at 9:00 a.m. on November 11. You can gain access by purchasing one of the game's founder's packs.