Valve sued and accused of profiting from global gambling marketplace

lackblogger · July 4, 2016

A Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player filed suit against Valve today, accusing the game maker of allowing an "illegal online gambling market" to spring up and propagate around the popular online shooter.

Valve Corporation, the suit says, "knowingly allowed ... and has been complicit in creating, sustaining and facilitating [a] market" where players and third-parties trade weapon skins like casino chips.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Connecticut resident Michael John McLeod alleges that Valve and third-party sites (CSGO Diamonds, CSGO Lounge and OPSkins) "knowingly allowed, supported, and/or sponsored illegal gambling by allowing millions of Americans to link their individual Steam accounts to third- party websites." Through those websites, the suit says, skins for CS:GO, which can be purchased from Valve, "can ... easily be traded and used as collateral for bets."

"In the eSports gambling economy, skins are like casino chips that have monetary value outside the game itself because of the ability to convert them directly into cash," the suit says.

Valve, the suit alleges, directly profits from transactions tied to gambling.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/6/23/12...o-illegal-gambling-lawsuit-weapon-skins-valve

Here's a Youtube cynic giving the full story (warning: contains humourous negativity including sarcasm and revulsion):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8fU2QG-lV0

If you have kids, time for another sit down and explanation of the horrors of the world'n'stuff.

lostforever · July 4, 2016

I really hope this goes somewhere. Many new games are filled with so called random loot boxes etc and this nothing but gambling.

azarhal · July 4, 2016

So if I read that properly, someone is suing Valve because third party websites not owned by Valved are used by players for gambling skins while said website do not have age verification?

Shouldn't they be suing the third party websites instead of Valve?

Lucky Day · July 4, 2016

lostforever said:
I really hope this goes somewhere. Many new games are filled with so called random loot boxes etc and this nothing but gambling.

I agree wholeheartedly. I've heard the excuse that "the laws are not clear" and "its not gambling because nothing is physically being exchanged" from the owner of klicknation - aka EA Sacramento. The laws in the US are actually written towards "games of chance", so they are quite broad just to prevent these kind of arguments.

azarhal said:
So if I read that properly, someone is suing Valve because third party websites not owned by Valved are used by players for gambling skins while said website do not have age verification?

Shouldn't they be suing the third party websites instead of Valve?

If Valve is complicit in running a scheme with third parties then its the definition of criminal conspiracy and could fall under RICO statues. Maybe a lawyer can back me up on this.

JDR13 · July 4, 2016

I'm going to sue Valve for not developing Half-Life 3. I've suffered mental anguish and emotional distress.

Carnifex · July 4, 2016

I'm fully against gambling in all of its' various forms, but I'm not sure this is the way to address it. Sadly, most people are simply flat-out stupid.

joxer · July 4, 2016

Gambling was always a part of videogames. Some RPGs we all love contain slot machines, roulette, blackjack, poker, name it.

The thing is, gambling in good and proper games operates with ingame cash. You bought the game, done deal, you're not wasting more $ from your wallet.
For some reason, when gambling with real cash instead of ingame cash found it's way into videogames, no country objected which is unbelievable as it's taxfree gambling!

I've posted about it before and didn't change my mind.
Gambling with real money has no place in videogames. A product that contains it is not a videogame and as such should be taxed equally as a slot machine. Okay, equally as Konami's pachinko machine.

Hopefully, after USA presidential campaign is over with, either Trump or Clinton will step on the modern snake's head. Till then, remember, house always wins.

Lucky Day said:
I agree wholeheartedly. I've heard the excuse that "the laws are not clear" and "its not gambling because nothing is physically being exchanged"

Those excuses are bullshit. Physically exchanged is $. Numbers by that $ mean the realworld green paper, not some virtual world imaginary things.

azarhal · July 4, 2016

I think people should read the Polygon article, this isn't about the skins being obtained as random loot in "lockbox". This is about gambling tradeable in-game items on 3rd party websites.

Valve sued and accused of profiting from global gambling marketplace

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