New York is Officially Suing Valve

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New York State is suing Valve, the company behind the Steam gaming platform, claiming that “loot boxes” in games like Dota 2 encourage illegal gambling among kids. Valve started as a game developer, creating popular titles such as Half-Life and Team Fortress, and has grown into a major force in the gaming world, operating one of the largest online platforms. Steam is the biggest marketplace for PC games, offering a vast library of over 100,000 titles, and Valve continues to create its own games in addition to running the platform.

Valve is famous as the company behind Steam, but they’ve also created many popular online games. Titles like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 remain incredibly popular, with hundreds of thousands of players enjoying them and competing daily. They’re currently developing a new multiplayer shooter called Deadlock, which is being tested with a limited number of invited players. Recently, Valve has also been named in a lawsuit concerning the use of loot boxes in their games.

Valve is Being Sued Over Loot Boxes

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Valve, the company behind popular video games, over its use of loot boxes. The lawsuit claims that Valve is running an illegal gambling operation by selling these boxes, especially to children. James argues that loot boxes are essentially gambling because the items inside have varying values, and Valve makes a lot of money from them. The Attorney General is seeking to recover money for players who have bought loot boxes in games like Team Fortress 2 and is also asking for a fine three times the amount Valve profited from the boxes. Valve has not yet responded to the lawsuit.

James criticized Valve’s use of loot boxes, pointing to their key system and the broader Steam marketplace. She argued that one of Valve’s games used a slot machine-like interface and that the company has made billions from these purchases. James also highlighted how the Steam marketplace encourages players to resell items they win from loot boxes, creating a secondary market within the Steam Community.

Loot boxes, which are virtual items bought with real money, have become a controversial topic in gaming, prompting legal challenges in several places. In late 2025, Brazil passed a law prohibiting anyone under 18 from buying them, joining countries like Belgium and the Netherlands. The popular game Genshin Impact was fined $20 million by US regulators in early 2025 due to its system for obtaining characters, which resembles loot boxes. Electronic Arts has also been penalized in the past for similar practices.

Image via Valve

This lawsuit about loot boxes follows a recent win for Valve in a separate legal case. A judge in Washington ruled in Valve’s favor against Leigh Rothschild, who is known for filing frivolous patent lawsuits. Valve originally sued Rothschild in 2023, responding to his claims that Valve violated a patent, even though Valve had a license to use the technology. While Valve celebrated this victory, they now face a new legal challenge regarding loot boxes, a battle that could significantly impact the entire gaming industry.

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2026-02-26 05:04