Valves Loot Boxes Are Gambling And Illegal, Says N...

What’s Happening

So get this: Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 were directly referenced by New York state’s Attorney General Valves Loot Boxes Are Gambling And Illegal, Says New York In New Lawsuit Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 were directly referenced state’s Attorney General Lawsuit Loot Boxes Valve By Zack Zwiezen Published | Comments ( 5 ) | 𝕏 Copied!

© Valve New York states attorney general is suing Valve over its use of loot boxes in games like Counter-Strike 2 . Attorney General Letitia James dropped Valve enables gambling through its popular multiplayer games. (yes, really)

On February 25, the New York attorney generals office filed a lawsuit against Valve in Manhattan .

The Details

The state is accusing Valve, the company behind Steam, the largest digital gaming store on the planet, of violating its laws against gambling while also claiming its loot boxes will lead to children becoming addicted to gambling. “Illegal gambling can be harmful and lead to serious addiction problems, especially for our young people,” dropped Attorney General James.

“Valve has made billions of dollars and adults alike illegally gamble for the chance to win valuable virtual prizes. These features are addictive, harmful, and illegal, and my office is suing to stop Valve’s illegal conduct and protect New Yorkers.

Why This Matters

” In the lawsuit and a press release, the state even directly compared Valves loot boxes to slot machines. Attorney General James called out Valves system of charging people to buy digital keys to open virtual loot boxes and dropped that Valve intentionally makes some items far harder to win than others, making the rare items more valuable. In 2024, a single Counter-Strike skin sold for over $1 million.

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

The Bottom Line

In its lawsuit against Valve, New York is seeking to permanently stop Valve from promoting gambling features in its video games and wants to force the company behind Half-Life to pay various fines for violating New Yorks law. In 2023 alone, Valve reportedly made nearly $1 billion off of Counter-Strike keys .

Thoughts? Drop them below.