The New York Attorney General is suing Valve “for promoting illegal gambling through video games”. This comes several years after Belgium, The Netherlands and France all banned opening cases in their country. France was introduced with the X-RAY scanner a way to view what’s in a case, then purchase it based on what is inside. In October 2025, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee also made a report that recommends the European Commission ban “lootboxes” for people under the age of 16.

There have been many attempts from many people and countries to try and deter the gambling opportunities within games.

The lawsuit aims to “permanently stop Valve from promoting gambling features in its games, disgorge all ill-gotten gains, and pay fines for violating New York’s laws.” The lawsuit was filed against them on Wednesday after an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General thought that “Valve’s video games, including Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2, enable gambling by enticing users to pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value.” New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Valve for these apparent breaches in New York’s Laws.

In September 2025, Valve had released the “Genesis Uplink Terminal” in to their game CS2. This allows players to directly purchase a skin offered by an “arms dealer,” which is a major move away from the “lootbox” method.

The investigation also alleges that Valve facilitates the ability for items to be sold on third-party platforms.

“Users can also connect their Valve accounts to third-party marketplaces where the virtual items can be sold directly for cash,” the press release says. “The OAG’s investigation found that Valve facilitates and even assists these third-party marketplaces in their operations.”

You can read the press release in full here and the lawsuit in full here.