{"id":199323,"date":"2026-03-11T15:36:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tetrabulletin.com\/?p=199323"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:36:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:36:38","slug":"valve-defends-loot-boxes-in-response-to-new-yorks-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tetrabulletin.com\/?p=199323","title":{"rendered":"Valve defends loot boxes in response to New York’s lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It must be 2017 because loot boxes are back in the news again. Two weeks after New York’s attorney general sued Valve over its use of the gimmick<\/a>, the company has responded. In short, the Steam maker essentially said, “See you in court.”<\/p>\n

New York’s lawsuit accuses Valve of promoting illegal gambling through its games. AG Letitia James called the loot boxes found in titles like Counter-Strike 2<\/em>, Team Fortress 2<\/em> and Dota 2<\/em> “addictive, harmful and illegal.” The state seeks to “permanently stop Valve from continuing to promote illegal gambling in its games” and pay relevant fines.<\/p>\n

In its defense<\/a> posted on Thursday, Valve likened its mystery boxes to kids buying packs of physical trading cards. “Players don’t have to open mystery boxes to play Valve games,” the company wrote. “In fact, most of you don’t open any boxes at all and just play the games \u2014 because the items in the boxes are purely cosmetic, there is no disadvantage to a player not spending money.”<\/p>\n

That last point, while applicable within the game itself, isn’t quite that cut and dry once you zoom out beyond that. As James pointed out, players can trade the cosmetic items they win from loot boxes on Steam’s marketplace or sell them on third-party marketplaces. Rarer ones can sometimes fetch lucrative sums.<\/p>\n

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