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So are they going to do the same thing against EA, ActiBlizz, Epic Games, etc etc? Or is this just "Valve has the most money and we want money and dont actually care about this issue" yet again?
There's a fundamental difference between what Valve does and what other companies are doing. In most games the things you get from a lootbox have no monetary value. You can't sell those skins to make money. You could get around it by selling the whole account but that is pretty much universally against the TOS so companies get a free pass when that happens.
But even if it did have some monetary value as long as it's a value set by the community and never acknowledged by the company the company gets a free pass even if they unofficially acknowledge the value (see how WOTC manipulates the secondary market of MTG cards).
And this is where Valve is different from the others. Valve acknowledge the monetary value of an item, because the trades happen on their platform and Valve takes a cut from all the trades. No other lootbox or lootbox-esque game does this.
As for why it's a lawsuit now, I'm guessing it's related to what was said in the article. I'm guessing previously Valve could hide behind the fact that the outcome of the trades is essentially Steam credit, which technically has no monetary value because it can't be cashed out, at least not through Valve. But supposedly now with the Steam deck, in a roundabout way, it is possible to cash out through Valve.
Valve lootboxes have always been the closest iteration to gambling and Valve has been hiding behind technicalities for a decade to keep their gambling ecosystem going. Just because Valve does a lot of good shit doesn't mean we should be defending their bad shit when it's obviously bad.
None of this is exclusive to Valve. Yeah, people can technically buy hardware and sell it, but they can also gift games or whatever and people were already using third party websites to sell their items for cash.
And MMOs with random drops have historically always had an RMT market that is against the TOS where people sell in game currency or items for real currency.
I'm not saying that valve should be let off the hook when it comes to loot boxes, but this lawsuit kind of stinks because it is all over the place and again, valve isn't the worst example of what they describe.
The fact that it's framed as "protecting children" and claims that valve is intentionally targeting children despite the games in question being rated M and old enough that I seriously doubt there are that many minors playing is putting a ton of red flags up for me. They also add the 90s era "violent video game" rhetoric that was always nonsense.
The conspiracy part of me thinks this is going to eventually lead to more age verification BS and they are targeting valve because it is the only company that is complying in a way that still protects user privacy.
Lootboxes are not specific to Valve, but the way Valve has implemented lootboxes is very distinct. And I know that third party sites have been selling the skins for cash for years at this point, but that has been happening outside Valve's ecosystem. IMO Valve should've been held accountable for that years ago but so far they've been able to skirt the law.
Which is part of why I said the way Valve does things unique to Valve, because Valve does (for the most part) offer the infrastructure for all the trading except for turning Steam credit back into real money. IMO RMT shouldn't exist either but that is not something you legally push onto developer because like you said, it is against the TOS so players are doing something the developer has already said they shouldn't be doing.
Valve isn't the worst example but they are one of the few companies where there's now some legal ground to go after the gambling, and when it comes to gambling Valve is a pretty big player. Ideally we should go after all of these companies but what is morally right and legally right doesn't really match when it comes to gambling.
I could see where you're coming from but I personally didn't see the lawsuit this way. Children are a point to bring up because we shouldn't be normalizing gambling for children, but overall I see the suit as taking an issue with the gambling aspect of the lootboxes. We don't know the exact number of minors playing but there's enough for them to get into the competitive scene of CS, there are players who entered T1 of CS while still being minors.
Not sure from where you're taking the violent video game rhetoric as I didn't notice that in the actual lawsuit.
I get the risk of pushing more age verification BS but I think that's unavoidable when companies decide to get into gambling. Age verification for gambling has been around before the world wide web was even a thing. I see this more as playing hardball by stating that if Valve wants to partake in gambling then gambling laws should apply to Valve. They can't legally force Valve to implement age verification unless Valve decides to double down on the gambling. Valve could just as easily prevent age verification by removing gambling from their platform. I don't think Valve should get a free pass on gambling just because there's a risk of someone malicious trying to push age verification through this door. Valve opened that door when they decided to implement gambling.
This isn't true at all. A lot of games now allow you to sell the boxes on their platform.
Give some examples.
Two that I have played off the top of my head, war thunder and Diablo 3...there is an entire gatcha industry. The amount of f2p mmos as well. EVE online has had a way to sell it's currency for I'm thinking a decade+ now.
Diablo 3 has no real trading. You have only limited time trading of things you find while playing with other people. Maybe you meant Diablo Immortal but I don't know enough about that to talk on that subject.
As for War Thunder and EVE. Yes, they have lootboxes and yes there's a perceived monetary value to the boxes and things in the box, but they're not the same as Steam because those games do the common thing (which IMO should also be banned) where you stick a premium currency between real money and the thing you want to purchase and obfuscate the actual value of things. I don't agree with what they're doing but they are making sure value of items is not directly translatable to real money. It's one of the tactics companies hide behind (while also manipulating players to spend more). Steam doesn't even do that. Steam literally puts real money value on the market. You want to buy a Factory new Marble Fade talon knife you know the starting price is exactly 732,98€.
I'm pretty sure in EVE and War Thunder you also get to open some of those lootboxes for free which is another difference from Valve games, where you literally have to pay real money to open the box. I imagine that also plays a role in how companies defend their practices, by saying it's not gambling because you don't have to pay to open lootboxes, you just pay to get EXTRA lootboxes to open.
And to make it clear, I'm not defending the gatcha industy. IMO that should be struck down the same way Valve's gambling machine should be struck down.
Diablo 3 had a RMAH (real money auction house). I didn't play the game long so it was still up when I stopped playing it. Since fuck blizzard.
WT requires you to buy keys to open the boxes, and you can sell the boxes you find on their store.
Eve has a full blown cash economy.
I honestly don't care about any of this. I think if a fool wants to waste their money on digital skins for a game. Let them.
But I'm not a prohibition type. Blackmarkets pop up because people are shouting "think of the children". It's not kids buying this shit, it's adults with jobs.
Which got removed roughly when the expansion launched due to there being huge backlash on this bullshit.
For premium boxes. You still get free boxes that you can open, but fair enough. That said, being able to sell premium boxes is not the same thing as being able to sell the things you got from the premium box and it changes nothing about the rest of what I said in the previous comment.
Not even going to bother with this one because who know what the fuck you mean here. Don't bother explaining, I don't care.
So why comment in the first place? Because now I have to waste my time correcting your vague bullshit and I'm pretty pissed off about it because this is something I care about and you're here just talking shit about things you don't understand and don't care to understand. Good for you for not knowing how damaging addiction can be for addicts and the people around them, next time do everyone a favor and stfu when you don't give a shit.
Which means what exactly....it was there. You asked. I provided.
Uhh ok? It kinda does...
Lol ok
Because this is a platform that allows people to post their comments. You whining about how you care that whales exist, doesn't magically make your opinion more important than mine. Plenty of games out there aren't pay 2 win...so vote with your wallet and don't play them. If you are addicted get help. Don't punish those who enjoy a vice. It's how we get shit legislation that doesn't do anything but create blackmarkets.
It seems as if someone has been lobbying against Valve recently.... Probably Epic for failing to compete.
Bingo. It's also widely known across the industry that Valve has had these crates and keys for nearly a decade. No lawsuit.
It's all about the Benjamins.
So they should be left alone with their online gambling business because they've been doing it for a long time and also there are other companies doing it too? Valve glazing is really out of control.
While I certainly agree with the "competition fails at being a competitor and sues instead", it is also false to say that because of Valve having lootboxes for over a decade, we should let it be.
Well, if Valve loses the case and this would force EA, Epic and all other bunch of shitty companies that utilize FOMO and gambling mechanics to stop doing so - I see it as a enormous W.
You are technically correct, except no one will try to enforce it on the lobbying companies, who probably kickstarted the lawsuit in the first place.