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From: JAB <noway@nochance.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: Just Another Necessary Reminder That Valve Promotes Underage
 Gambling
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2024 11:47:59 +0000
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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On 30/12/2024 05:24, Xocyll wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> looked up from reading the
> entrails of the porn spammer to utter  "The Augury is good, the signs
> say:
> 
>>
>> While it's great fun to point fingers at Epic, or Microsoft, at EA or
>> Activision for their scummy, quasi-legal behaviors, let's not also
>> forget that the darling of the PC Gaming industry, Valve, is neck-deep
>> in supporting not only gambling, but underage gambling.
>>
>> A huge chunk of Valve's income derives from selling lootbox items used
>> as 'tokens' by gambling websites, and the company turns a blind eye to
>> the practice even as it rakes in billions. Its uses psychologically
>> manipulative practices to ensnare its victims, and uses the same shady
>> tactics as other gambling companies to find loopholes that keep it
>> (just barely) on the right side of the law (and sometimes not even
>> then).
> 
> If they sell "lootbox" items used as "tokens" on gambling sites, isn't
> it the gambling sites responsibility to not have underaged people on
> their sites?
> 
> If they can't use the tokens, the underaged won't buy them.
> 
> If some bar does a weird promotion, like bring in a rose, get a free
> beer, you gonna blame the florist for an underaged kid buying a rose and
> trading it for beer?
> 
> Not illegal to buy a rose, or sell one, the bar is committing the
> illegal act by trading a kid a beer for that rose.
> 
> Assign the blame where it belongs, with the gambling sites that are not
> keeping underaged gamblers off their sites.
> 

Legally I think they are ok, certainly no expert, because Steam doesn't 
directly allow you to convert your skins to real money although that can 
be done by 3rd party websites. Ethically I don't think they have a leg 
to stand on as although lootboxes may not technically classed as 
gambling they have all the hallmarks of why gambling is regulated. The 
also know how skins may be used but do nothing about it. If they wanted 
to they could remove all the lootboxes, make the contents buy able 
directly. I'm pretty sure Valve have read the studies looking at the 
link between lootboxes and problem gambling.

The problem with that is Valve no longer get a take of the real life 
economy based around skins.