"Valve does not cooperate with gambling sites" - Counter-...

What’s Happening

Real talk: In an unusual show of candour, Valve have spoken out publicly against a lawsuit filed in New York, USA that accuses them of “letting children and adults alike illegally gamble” via loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2.

With the caveat that I am no Atticus Finch-esque legal expert or even a Louis Tully-grade bumbler, I find Valve’s rebuttal to be a mixture of whataboutery and tactical mitigation, with a couple of fair points. It basically sidesteps what I think is the laws Home News Valve does not cooperate with gambling sites - Counter-Strike publishers issue rare public defence of lootbox mechanics, following New York lawsuit Steam owners tout history of shutting down gambling on the marketplace Image credit: Valve News by Edwin Evans-Thirlwell News Editor Follow Counter-Strike 2 In an unusual show of candour, Valve have spoken out publicly against a lawsuit filed in New York, USA that accuses them of “letting children and adults alike illegally gamble” via loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2 , Dota 2 , and Team Fortress 2 . (it feels like chaos)

It basically sidesteps what I think is the lawsuit’s most important argument that lootbox mechanics are fundamentally manipulative.

The Details

You can read the thing in full here , or you can read my slapdash summary-with-notes, below. The post starts Valve don’t believe the games in question violate New York’s gambling laws, while claiming that the company have been “working to educate” New York’s attorney general Letitia James and her colleagues “about our virtual items and mystery boxes since they first reached out to us in early 2023”.

Valve’s initial defence against the claim about illegal gambling is that loot box mechanics aka, randomised rewards presented in the form of a sealed container - are “widely used” outside Steam, “not just in video games but in the tangible world as well, where generations have grown up opening baseball card packs and blind boxes and bags, and then trading and selling the items they receive”. The post compares loot boxes in Valve games to packets of Pokemon and Magic the Gathering cards, and to “digital packs similar to our boxes” that “date back to 2004”.

Why This Matters

Gaming fans have strong opinions about moves like this, and for good reason.

The gaming community has been watching developments like this closely.

The Bottom Line

This story is still developing, and we’ll keep you updated as more info drops.

Are you here for this or nah?