New York sues Valve over "illegally promoting gambling" for loot boxes

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a lawsuit against Valve (Steam) for what they say is illegally promoting gambling.

The official press release notes that Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2 are in the firing line for "enticing users to pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value". Going on to say how it resembles a slot machine with a spinning wheel, and that the items can be sold online for money and that Valve "has made billions of dollars luring its users, many of whom are teenagers or younger, to engage in gambling in the hopes of winning expensive virtual items that they can cash in on".

Pictured - Counter-Strike 2

More from the press release: "Illegal gambling can be harmful and lead to serious addiction problems, especially for our young people," said Attorney General 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 illegal, and my office is suing to stop Valve’s illegal conduct and protect New Yorkers."

Making their case against Valve, the press release notes how players can use Valve's own Steam Community Market and also connect up a Steam account to third-party marketplaces to be sold for cash. They even claim the "OAG’s investigation found that Valve facilitates and even assists these third-party marketplaces in their operations".

James also goes on to do what politicians always end up doing, by attempting to link Valve's games to real-life violence by saying "Valve’s promotion of games that glorify violence and guns helps fuel the dangerous epidemic of gun violence, particularly among young gamers who can become numbed to grave violence before their brains are fully developed".

Valve are also currently engaged in a lawsuit in the UK which was recently given the go-ahead, although the two focus on completely different things.

I've reached out to Valve for a comment.