The company Valve has published a lengthy statement sharing its position in the dispute with the New York authorities. The prosecutor of the American state filed a lawsuit against it in late February, accusing it of promoting gambling through loot boxes in Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, and Team Fortress 2.
Counter-Strike 2
Valve stated that it disagrees with the accusation. Moreover, it is disappointed that the issue has even reached the court stage. As the company explained, since 2023, it has been attempting to convince New York authorities of the legality of loot boxes, but with no success so far.
In its statement, Valve emphasized that similar mechanics are widely used outside video games. It sees little difference between loot boxes and, for example, sets of collectible baseball cards or "blind" boxes with toys like Labubu. Buyers of these also don't know what exactly is inside in advance, but they can expect an item of a certain type, which they can choose to keep, sell, or trade.
Valve also pointed out that using loot boxes is not necessary to play its games — the items that drop from them are purely cosmetic and do not affect gameplay.
In conclusion, Valve criticized some of the measures proposed by New York authorities to regulate the situation with loot boxes. In particular, it opposed the collection of additional information about gamers — their exact location and age.
"Perhaps it would be easier and cheaper for us to reach an agreement with the Attorney General of New York State. But we considered the terms of a deal that would satisfy the prosecution a bad option for users and other game developers. Moreover, they would affect our ability to innovate in game design," Valve wrote.