New York sues Valve, alleging its loot boxes are ‘quintessential gambling’
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Valve for “unlawfully promoting gaming” through the loot box systems it built for video games like Counter-Strike 2, Fortress Team 2And Dota 2according to a press release. The attorney general seeks to “permanently prevent Valve from promoting gaming features in its games, disgorge all ill-gotten gains, and pay fines for violations of New York laws.”
“This loot box model developed by Valve – which involves charging an individual for a chance to win something of value based solely on luck – is a game of chance par excellence, prohibited by the Constitution and New York criminal law,” the lawsuit states. Valve made “tens of millions of dollars” from selling loot box keys to “thousands” of New York residents and “earned millions of additional dollars in commissions from New Yorkers who sold virtual items obtained from loot boxes.” The company’s loot boxes are also “particularly pernicious” because they are popular with children and adolescents, according to the complaint.
Users can purchase keys to open loot boxes in select Valve games and receive randomly selected virtual items as rewards. If desired, users can then sell these rewards on the Steam Community Marketplace and third-party marketplaces; the rarest items can be worth “thousands of dollars,” the lawsuit says. These systems, however, require users to pay Valve $2.49 plus tax to open loot boxes, and users often get items that are “worth less than what the user spent on the key.” The lawsuit also notes that Valve’s experience opening a loot box in Counter-Strike 2 looks like a slot machine.
Valve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
