Native Americans sue Valve – Once again is the gamble in focus

Lotto with weapon skins from Counter-Strike: This problem has brought Valve many litigations before. Now there is a new lawsuit, and this time it comes from Native Americans who run a casino.

Virtual CS:GO casinos are bringing Valve another lawsuit, this time from a whole tribe of Native Americans. The Native American Quinault Nation wants to take the Steam operator to court because Valve allows unregulated gambling in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

What kind of gambling is this? In the tactical shooter CS:GO there are lots of weapon skins, which are already sold on the normal Steam marketplace for 500 US dollars or more. However, third party providers take advantage of this opportunity to conduct large scale betting where the CS skins serve as a bet.

This has caused several legal problems and lawsuits against Valve in recent years, as there was no government regulation for such bets and they were not considered illegal sports bets at the same time. Meanwhile, however, the uncontrolled betting market around skins has grown into a billion-dollar business.

What is the problem with Native Americans? The Native American Quinault Nation operates its own casino in the US state of Washington and must, therefore, comply with the strict state gaming laws. Valve is also headquartered in Washington, D.C., but has so far been spared the laws against illegal betting.

Valve promotes Skin gambling

Therefore, the aborigines complain that Valve does not have the necessary licenses to operate, enable or participate in gambling in any other way. The prosecution says:

“Valve knows very well about gambling with skins, which is still being operated. They know very well that these skins have a real monetary value, which further increases their popularity and value. Valve actively promotes and enables these skin gambling games.”

The complete statement of claim is 25 pages long. What the Native Americans of the Quinault Nation are trying to achieve is that the Washington Native Gambling Commission can take another look at the skin trade and then decide whether it needs to be licensed or not.

When a major gambling lawsuit was last filed against Valve in 2016, a company spokesman stated that “their user agreements do not allow” Steam to operate a gambling operation. The current lawsuit was filed on April 3, but it is not yet known if and when it will end up in court.