In February of this year, it became known that New York State authorities sued Valve. The company was accused of organizing illegal gambling through the loot box system in the Steam service.
Recently, this story continued. The media drew attention to Valve's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. According to Courthouse News, the company warns that recognizing loot boxes as an illegal form of gambling would create a "slippery precedent," because with such an approach to gambling, collectible cards, Happy Meal toys, and boxes with a random toy inside, such as Labubu, could be considered gambling:
Each of these transactions — and many others like them — involves the purchase of random items that can be resold for real money. No court in the past has allowed the executive branch to criminalize overnight such a strikingly broad range of everyday activities not expressly prohibited by law. This court should not be the first.
Courthouse News also cites another Valve statement: "People like surprises."
Part of the appeal of many popular collectibles, from baseball cards to [toys] in cereal boxes, is the chance to open a sealed package and unexpectedly get a rare item [...] No legislature or court has ever recognized this as illegal gambling.
According to Valve, Counter-Strike skins, like collectible cards, were "created for entertainment and have subjective and aesthetic value for users." In both cases, there are extensive secondary markets for collectors, where resale prices depend on the demand for items.
A ban on the use of Counter-Strike cases, Valve warns, "will introduce uncertainty into hundreds of daily commercial transactions."
Valve asks the question — if loot boxes are recognized as "gambling," then what will happen next with other similar transactions:
Can parents buy baseball card packs for their children? Can families go to Chuck E. Cheese, gamble, and exchange winning tickets for prizes? Can a child open a cereal box and get a surprise toy? Under the interpretation of [New York authorities], all these actions and much more could be considered gambling crimes.
Read more on the topic:
- New York authorities are trying to sue Valve for loot boxes in Steam
- Valve disappointed in New York justice system: company responds to NY Attorney General's lawsuit over loot boxes in games