the reason they're going after valve is because you can cash out the lootbox results for real money, making them a literal slot machine with extra steps. if every result is monetarily worthless because it can't be cashed out, there's no legal case under gambling laws most places

February 26, 2026 - 15:33 UTC

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Well, I'm pretty sure you can't cash out? All you essentially get is "money" on your steam account. You can't withdraw it, or use it for anything other than steam. In all senses of the word it's just a form of discount or points system that isn't trying to hide behind fancy terms or shiny looks.
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there are plenty of 3rd party sites that will allow you to sell tf2 and cs:go items for real world money. I could flip my backpack into 4-500 dollars cash in paypal with only a bit of work.
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I mean Charles Entertainment Cheese will call it something else but I'm pretty sure gambling for scrip is still gambling, it just doesn't carry the "I'll make rent this way!" fantasy.

Do I oppose it? Not really.
Is it a good and decent thing? Also no.
It's on a spectrum from "heinous" to "so what?"
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That's still legally iffy even so, and there's no shortage of 3rd party sites built off trading features that let you get actual money for it. Most games outright ban real-money trading, Valve does not.
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They're claiming that since you can buy physical hardware with your steam wallet it's a way to cash out, ignoring that you'd have to find someone to buy that hardware from you used (warranty gone), ship it, etc, etc.

Like they're playing straight-up Stretch Armstrong theoretical nonsense here.
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