Valve fires back at New York Attorney General loot box lawsuit: "We are disappointed"

Valve has finally issued a statement in response to a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. In the statement, Valve argued that its in-game loot boxes are not illegal gambling but rather a standard feature across the video game industry.

It’s rare for Valve to issue public statements like the one it released on March 11. The company expressed disappointment, stating that it had been working closely with the Attorney General’s office since 2023, only to face legal action regardless.

For context, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against “mystery boxes” in Valve’s popular games Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2. James stated that loot boxes allow players to pay real currency for a random chance to obtain rare and valuable virtual items, which can then be sold for real-world money.

She called this an addictive gambling loop that harms kids and teenagers. The gist of the lawsuit is that Valve would be forced to ban loot boxes in New York, hand over profits, and pay legal fines. However, Valve pushed back, stating that its loot box system doesn’t violate any New York law.

Valve presented its case clearly and addressed New York players, stating, “We shared with the NYAG that these types of boxes in our games are widely used, not just in video games but in the tangible world as well, where generations have grown up opening baseball card packs and blind boxes and bags, and then trading and selling the items they receive.”

Valve’s statement carries weight, given that blind-box openings, Pokémon cards, and the recently trending Labubus have been an on-and-off fad for decades. Digital item trading, such as in World of Warcraft, Diablo II’s lobby trading, and RuneScape, existed long before Valve implemented loot boxes.

Valve also stated that digital items in its video games serve purely cosmetic purposes and offer no pay-to-win incentives, adding that gamers can enjoy the company’s titles without ever engaging with loot boxes. Valve continued, “Because the items in the boxes are purely cosmetic, there is no disadvantage to a player not spending money.”

The company also highlighted the years of work it has put into cracking down on actual gambling sites misusing its Counter-Strike cosmetics. “Valve does not cooperate with gambling sites,” the company said. “To date, we’ve locked over one million Steam accounts that were being misused by third parties in connection with gambling, fraud, and theft.”

The most striking demand in the lawsuit is that the New York Attorney General wants items to be non-transferable. Valve, however, disagrees, stating, “We think the transferability of a digital game item is good for consumers.”

Valve concluded its announcement by stating, “Ultimately, a court will decide whose position—ours or the NYAG’s—is correct.”

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