One particularly disgruntled Counterstrike player tired of the incessant gambling of virtual items in-game has sued the company for letting the racket go unhindered, though it may also have something to do with a large bet he recently lost…
Ever since the inception of the highly popular Counterstrike: Global Offensive, there has by all accounts been a steady rise in the illegal gambling of the game’s virtual items without any sign of Valve even attempting to stop it – with one third-party site even utilizing Steam sign-ins to make its transactions.
According to Bloomberg – who did a study on the topic – most illegal gambling sites care little for the age of their users, permitting under-age gambling and breaking the law in the process, and they also estimated the virtual gambling scene raked in more than $2.3 billion in 2015 alone.
A quote from plaintiff:
“Defendant Valve knowingly allowed, supported, and/or sponsored illegal gambling by allowing millions of Americans to link their individual Steam accounts to third- party websites such as CSGO Lounge (“Lounge”), CSGO Diamonds (“Diamonds”), and OPSkins (collectively, “unnamed co-conspirators”)… In the eSports gambling economy, skins are like casino chips that have monetary value outside the game itself because of the ability to convert them directly into cash.”
He also claimed that he “has gambled on the game and lost money as both an adult and a minor”, certainly making for a rather ironic case, while also causing some to question his age.
The consequences of Valve’s “lack of action” are suggested to be dire, though this may hinge on whether Valve themselves can be held legally accountable for the illegal gambling of disparate third parties.
However, those still believing in the forlorn concept of personal responsibility may well choose to understand the case in terms of yet another litigation crazy American attempting to make a buck whilst absolving himself of any responsibility for his gambling antics.
It is gambling. There’s even a youtube video where someone buys 50 dollars worth of item boxes just to get 2 bucks worth in return.
Kind of reminds me of my 2nd cousin that use to play gaiaonline some years back. He must have spent at least $150USD on that website and some moderator or administrative staffer accused him of botting and perma-banned him. Practically stole what he had bought on that website. Oh, he got his parents involved, threaten to sue the website for fraud and deception. In the end, he never played pay-to-play online games ever again.
If you have to get your parents involved for anything, you are not old enough to spend money.
Maybe his parents know the law well?
yeah real fucking fantastic, I get my parents involved too because they’re the kings and queen of cornwall.
Sounds like your cousin is a spoiled little bitch that threatens to sue anyone who hurts his feelings/
Can you even read? They didn’t hurt his feelings, they banned his account worth 150USD. Although he might have agreed to that in the TOS so it’s probably not illegal, but still a bitch move.
@Anonymous 15:58 27/06/2016
He never did bot. I mean, why bot an online game and pay with real money. Awfully risky to spend real money when you can hack/bot the online game for undetermined amount of whatever the game’s pixels are worth. Aye?
experts… haha
Again, reading 🙂 You can be accused of botting, without actually botting
He shouldnt have been botting
“He also claimed that he “has gambled on the game and lost money as both an adult and a minor”, certainly making for a rather ironic case, while also causing some to question his age.”
In other words, he, by his own admission, actively participated – and, thus, supported – said illegal activity. “A certain someone” is going to have a field day with this.
I could understand why some people pay a few bucks like $2 for a gun skin but more expensive than that it’s just stupid.
It’s crazy how it’s gotten. There are accounts with items worth over $1,000,000 in cash.
They’d probably get more value out of quality mouse and holding off on the aspartame-rich soft drinks.
True sugar rules.
I too partake of the soft drink, friends
I didn’t know counterstrike was even still a thing.
it isn’t
?? It is one of the biggest Esports game with teams from all over the world. I don’t follow CS but you can always see it in the top 5 featured on Twitch. The huge tournaments draw in 100K plus viewers easily.
From what I’ve seen the game has turn to s♥♥t with mass amounts of hackers.
Its gotten to point where tv station in the US called TBS has been showing tournaments on tv.