Valve bans over $7bn skins gambling market
Valve has acted after the company became the subject of legal proceedings, including a class action lawsuit, due to the firm allowing so-called skins gambling, that had been expected to generate $7.4 billion in bets in 2016, through its OpenID API (application protocol interface).
A lawsuit filed in June on behalf of Connecticut resident Michael John McLeod alleged that the company and third-party websites CSGO Lounge, CSGO Diamonds and OPSkings “knowingly allowed, supported, and/or sponsored illegal gambling by allowing millions of Americans to link their individual Steam accounts to third- party websites”. According to the lawsuit, skins for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which can be purchased from Valve, “can easily be traded and used as collateral for bets” through those sites.
The firm said it will enforce the rules of its terms of service and request that all gambling platforms immediately cease offering their services through OpenID.
“We’d like to clarify that we have no business relationships with any of these sites,” said Erik Johnson, a company spokesman, in a statement. “We are going to start sending notices to these sites requesting they cease operations through Steam.”
“Using the OpenID API and making the same web calls as Steam users to run a gambling business is not allowed by our API nor our user agreements.”
Since 1996, Valve’s approach toward gaming has produced award-winning games, cutting-edge technologies and a groundbreaking social entertainment platform. Its first-person, sci-fi shooter game Half-Life has won over 50 Game of The Year and several “Best Game Ever” awards. The company has also released such popular video games as Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress.
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