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New York sues Valve over loot boxes

Corporate espionage behind the scenes.

I'm sure GHG GHG will track down the donor list or the like.

The fact that the common theme is that it's just valve that are coming under fire in all of these situations makes it 100% transparent.

Our resident Microsoft spokesperson has now gone on record saying they are hoping for government intervention to solve their issues with competing.

Screenshot-20260226-050108.jpg


If only they weren't so predictable.
 
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The fact that the common theme is that it's just valve that are coming under fire in all of these situations makes it 100% transparent.

Our resident Microsoft spokesperson has now gone on record saying they are hoping for government intervention to solve their issues with competing.

Screenshot-20260226-050108.jpg

Seem to recall guys like that not being in favor of government intervention not too long ago.

Friday Movie GIF
 
A blind box you can spend real money on that you can sell the contents of for money.

Yeah, I'd say that fits.

I love Valve thanks to Steam and stuff like Portal, but I also hate them for this lootbox shit.
Trading cards are exactly what you describe and are not gambling. Opening a loot box is the digital equivalent of opening a pack of baseball cards.
 
NY really elects the worst people. She didn't get enough suing Trump now she is going after valve.

Valve should just block steam access in NY state.
 
What is this insane obsession to force this company to go publicly traded?
Because Valve do what's best for them, when they should be doing what's best for shareholders if they were to go public traded, there potential billions that can be made for shareholders by enshittification of Valve. If you disagree with doing what's best for shareholders then you're a communist or something.
 
If Valve is doing something wrong with loot boxes, absolutely hold them accountable. I love Valve/Steam, but I'm not going to turn a blind eye to foul conduct.

Having said that, why is this happening now, and why Valve of all people, and only Valve? Why has this never been an issue with EA or other companies that have a history of shitty loot box/gambling titles, and why aren't these companies also involved in this lawsuit?

Because Valve isn't a large employer with an office in NYC, and they're easy to go after due to how obvious the loot boxes are and how long they've gone on for, plus CS2 and how that market has gone crazy the last year or two.
 
What does this comment have to do with this thread?
Nothing! Sorry, still carrying second hand paranoia from that previous news being negative towards Valve, literally "leave Billion Dollar company alone" in action, lol. Lots of people have vested interest in not seeing Valve damaged. This lawsuit is fair, selling lootboxes to minors was always beyond the pale, pretty indefensible, IMO, it's possible multiple seemingly random things could be true and related at the same time when you frame it through a certain defensive lens.

Still, it will set precedence for a lot of other companies doing the same. Added /tinfoil to the first post as is appropriate.
 
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If Valve is doing something wrong with loot boxes, absolutely hold them accountable. I love Valve/Steam, but I'm not going to turn a blind eye to foul conduct.

Having said that, why is this happening now, and why Valve of all people, and only Valve? Why has this never been an issue with EA or other companies that have a history of shitty loot box/gambling titles, and why aren't these companies also involved in this lawsuit?

I mean the look boxes combined with the market makes it possible to get real money out of it. And secondly if valve gets actually fucked others are next.

Dont get the "but muuh multi billion dollar company" all over the thread.
 
A blind box you can spend real money on that you can sell the contents of for money.

Yeah, I'd say that fits.
Not really.

If so, then trading card games, which loot boxes are much more reminiscent of, would also qualify as gambling, which they're not.
 
Not really.

If so, then trading card games, which loot boxes are much more reminiscent of, would also qualify as gambling, which they're not.

Do you get real world money out of trading card games.

It would be fine what valve is doing if they make all items in loot boxes non tradeable.
 
It's basically gambling and should be regulated as such. Valves issues with this is well known and has been going on for years. There is a reason we have a entire dodgy industry with CS skins.

Or just make the loot boxes non tradeable. Plenty of actions Valve can take on this.
 
I mean, some people do. It's no different from rare baseball cards going for crazy amounts of money.

Yeah but there is also a difference between unofficial and actually encouraged by the company like in valves case. No other gaming company has an official market place like that.
 
I hope NY loses cause it'd be funny.
Nah, the lootbox scene fucks with our hobby in a million ways, get this cynical bullshit out of video games immediately. Hasbro unfortunately will also be collateral.

It's super easily defeated on moral grounds when you bring kids into the equation and the only reason this hasn't happened yet is corruption.

So it's fair to see this as rich assholes vs rich assholes, but ultimately the outcome is a positive for all.

Weirdly, this is how you get Half Life 3, so that's bananas.

After this drama, the next step will be to legislate against free to play GaaS targeting kids via extremely cynical and manipulative tactics, this is how all of this stuff finally ends. Learn to make good games again for your supper, douchebags.
 
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Yeah but there is also a difference between unofficial and actually encouraged by the company like in valves case. No other gaming company has an official market place like that.
So if Valve doesnt have a marketplace then all of a sudden its no longer gambling?
 
Iam no lawyer but you have to admit being able to get hundreds of bucks through their system is questionable.
It may be questionable, but is it gambling?

The vast majority of lootbox systems do not allow for any kind of trading or selling of items. Many here believe these systems are a form of gambling. Do you think that this type of lootbox is gambling as well?
 
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It may be questionable, but is it gambling?

The vast majority of lootbox systems do not allow for any kind of trading or selling of items. Many here believe these systems are a form of gambling. Do you think that this type of lootbox is gambling as well?

Not being able to sell your digital items blurs the mine further. But its possible to get hundreds of euros for a lucky skin like a knive or awp in csgo which is closer to classic gambling imo. But iam not a lawyer so what do i know.
 
Mandami realises that no one wants to donate to a communist Utopia and needs to get money somehow.
 
All the valve defenders immediately pouncing on OP are quite interesting, just shows how strongly valve swayed the public viewpoint in spite of being one of the first companies to truly bring lootboxes into gaming and are still making bank off it to this day.
 
All the valve defenders immediately pouncing on OP are quite interesting, just shows how strongly valve swayed the public viewpoint in spite of being one of the first companies to truly bring lootboxes into gaming and are still making bank off it to this day.
Man, all of this shit has been wishful thinking since the Belgium ban happened in 2018. There's been plenty of time to get out of it since then. Explains to me for instance why Magic the Gathering went fucking beserk trying to get as much money as they possibly could before the hammer properly came down on all this stuff.
 
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All the valve defenders immediately pouncing on OP are quite interesting, just shows how strongly valve swayed the public viewpoint in spite of being one of the first companies to truly bring lootboxes into gaming and are still making bank off it to this day.
Because it's a fucking joke that mamdani does it and everyone knows the only real reason he does it is because he can't promise anything because stuff costs money and he is driving people with money out of new york so there's even less to pay for his BS
 
"James is seeking restitution for players, plus a fine of three times Valve's alleged illegal gains."

Horrry sheeeeeit, that's going to be a lot of money.
 
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Where is the proof they're kids?

Parents aren't just giving kids credit cards, now are they? Are they buying them steam codes or gift cards, and if so, why are they not using parental controls and/or monitoring what their children are doing?


Steve Bannon Bingo GIF
Parental controls wouldn't stop them from playing games rated 13+. It would be different if these weren't actually games targeted at kids. I say good riddance to loot boxes.
 
Regardless of whether Valve is being targeted or not, all this crap in gaming needs removed/fixed, and we have to start somewhere, Valve is just as good a place as any, if not better because they are highly visible and have a public image that isn't associated with this shady psychological manipulative gambling stuff despite the returns they are getting.

Anyone outside of gaming is having their protections from gambling ramped up. The current Sky Bet advert around Premier league games has the slogan "Do you wanna bet?", on the basis of actually stopping to think before betting after a bit of smack talk.

The current one with an insinuated (Man) United fan and a City fan on a multistorey carpark roof, with the United fan calling out the City fan as "a plastic" (fake glory hunter) and referencing the Etihad as the Empty-had with a jibe of "you can't even fill your stadium!" and "you bought history, we made it" followed by the City fan calling out United's drop off - since 2014/SAF - "stop living in the past amigo" and "we're going to ruin you this season" should leave people feeling like they want to bet, but the advert successfully does what it is trying to do and that is separate emotional feelings for betting irrationally from assessing the rational risk of betting, to then not bet.

The difference in responsibility between real betting companies and the games industry in GaaS using every shady practice to distort supply and demand with false scarcity and psychological FOMO layered into gambling mechanics is absolutely shocking IMO, and if measured by norms of the established bookmaking world would be deemed criminal.
 
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I mean yeah I think loot boxes suck, and it's one of the few instances where I'd be ok with digital age verification before you can buy them.
Digital age verification is no good and shuts out too many adults.
The solution is restricting the HW - make a console that can't be sold to kids.
Anybody who has the HW can buy any of the games from E-AO without any restriction.
Adding a console to the list of cool things kids can't have will put console sales through the roof and cause kids from 11-18 to resent their Nintendos that they can have.
 
The fact that the common theme is that it's just valve that are coming under fire in all of these situations makes it 100% transparent.

Our resident Microsoft spokesperson has now gone on record saying they are hoping for government intervention to solve their issues with competing.

Screenshot-20260226-050108.jpg


If only they weren't so predictable.
So this is why Sony removed the browser from the PS5? Lol, hope closed gardens stop existing asap.
 
There seems to be this wishy washy argument that things should be put in parents hands

So what children do shouldn't be governed by parents. It should be handled by massive lawsuits?

So many things that are wrong with the world, summed up right there.
 
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