Valve rejects New York gambling claims in response to lawsuit

In a message to New York players on March 11, the company said it disagrees with claims that mystery boxes in its games violate state gambling laws. The lawsuit, filed in February, targets titles including Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2.

“We don't believe that they do, and were disappointed to see the NYAG make that claim after working to educate them about our virtual items and mystery boxes since they first reached out to us in early 2023,” Valve said in its statement.

The New York Attorney General’s lawsuit alleges that Valve encourages gambling by allowing users to pay to open virtual containers, often called loot boxes, for a chance to obtain rare cosmetic items. Some of these items can later be traded or sold online, sometimes for large sums.

Valve argued that such mechanics are comparable to widely known products in the physical world.

“...these types of boxes in our games are widely used, 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. On the physical side, popular products used in this way include baseball cards, Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, and Labubu,” the company said.

The developer stressed that the items obtained from the boxes are purely cosmetic and do not affect gameplay.

“Players don't have to open mystery boxes to play Valve games. In fact, most of you don't open any boxes at all and just play the games,” the statement said.

Valve also said it has taken steps to prevent misuse of its platform in connection with gambling or fraud. According to the company, it has locked more than one million Steam accounts linked to activities such as gambling, fraud, and theft. It added that features such as trade reversals and trade cooldown periods were introduced to protect users and limit abuse.

The company criticized some measures proposed by the attorney general’s office, including restrictions on the transfer of digital items and the collection of additional personal data from users. Valve said removing the ability to trade items would harm consumers by preventing them from selling or exchanging unwanted items.

Valve also raised concerns about potential requirements to gather more personal data for location tracking or age verification, arguing that such measures could be invasive for users worldwide.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that over 10 hours gaming weekly harms young people's diet and sleep.