[STEAM] New York’s attorney general is suing Valve for ‘promoting illegal gambling’ with loot boxes in games like Counter-Strike

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New York State Attorney General Letitia James is suing Valve, makers of games like Counter-Strike 2 and Team Fortress 2, for "promoting ******** gambling through video games."

The AG's office put out

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today saying that CS2's cases, a "loot box" feature, violates the state of New York's gambling laws "and can lead to serious harms, especially for young people." James' lawsuit "seeks to permanently stop Valve from continuing to promote ******** gambling in its games and to pay disgorgement and fines."

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Screenshot by Destructoid “******** gambling can be harmful and lead to serious addiction problems, especially for our young people,” said AG James. “Valve has made billions of dollars by letting children and adults alike illegally gamble for the chance to win valuable virtual prizes. These features are addictive, harmful, and ********, and my office is suing to stop Valve’s ******** conduct and protect New Yorkers.”

The release states that "research has shown that children who are introduced to gambling are four times more likely to develop a gambling problem later in life than those who are not."

The market for skins in CS2 has skyrocketed in recent years, reportedly reaching upwards of $4.3 billion as of last March. In games like CS2 and others on Steam, players can purchase cases and keys to unlock them and trigger a slot machine-like visual in attempts to earn very rare, and oftentimes very expensive digital cosmetics.

Using Steam's Community Market feature, these skins can be bought and re-sold at values oftentimes reaching into the thousands, but some of the rarest skins have been sold for upwards of $1.5 million or higher.

"Valve’s loot box model can be especially harmful to children," James' press release said. "Attorney General James asserts that young users with limited funds can be enticed to start gambling through loot boxes in the hopes of obtaining a virtual item that they believe will enhance their status in the games’ virtual worlds."

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