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Valve will take legal action against gambling sites that use Steam

The company will send a letter as its opening salvo. If that doesn't work, it will 'pursue the matter as necessary.'

David Craddock

July 13, 2016 1:59 PM

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In a statement published today, Valve announced that it will pursue legal action against gambling websites that use Steam (viaPolygon).

"In 2011, we added a feature to Steam that enabled users to trade in-game items as a way to make it easier for people to get the items they wanted in games featuring in-game economies," wrote Valve's Erik Johnson. "Since then a number of gambling sites started leveraging the Steam trading system, and there’s been some false assumptions about our involvement with these sites."

Johnson clarified that Valve does not affiliate with any such site, nor has the company received a cut of revenue from their earnings. Furthermore, Steam does not offer any way to convert in-game items into real money.

Gambling sites that use Steam make money by breaking Steam user agreements and certain development APIs (application programming interfaces). "First, they are using the OpenID API as a way for users to prove ownership of their Steam accounts and items. Any other information they obtain about a user's Steam account is either manually disclosed by the user or obtained from the user’s Steam Community profile (when the user has chosen to make their profile public). Second, they create automated Steam accounts that make the same web calls as individual Steam users."

When it catches a gambling business exploiting Steam and its users, Valve will launch a two-pronged initiative. First, it will send cease-and-desist notices. If that doesn't work, it will "pursue the matter as necessary."

"Users should probably consider this information as they manage their in-game item inventory and trade activity."

Valve's strong stance against gambling sites comes in the wake of a gambling controversy surrounding CSGO Lotto. Counter-Strike: GO allows players to use Steam trading to buy and sell in-game items, but CSGO Lotto and other such services took that a step further by letting users bid real money in exchange for weapon skins. A lawsuit against CSGO Lotto alleged that Valve was "complicit in creating, sustaining and facilitating [a] market" where players, even those younger than legal age, could gamble.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.