- Valve has been hit by a class action lawsuit in Washington, which alleges that the company extracts money from loot boxes through illegal gambling mechanics.
- The law firm wants to hold Valve accountable for putting consumers, including children, at risk.
- Furthermore, according to the lawsuit, the loot boxes qualify as a gambling method in Washington.
After a record-breaking 2025, in which it generated more than $17 billion in revenue, Valve has had a shaky start to 2026. The gaming giant has been backed into a corner due to the memory crisis, delaying the price reveal for its Steam Machine, which can now cost up to $1000.
In addition, Valve was sued by the state of New York over a week ago for letting adults and children irresponsibly gamble with loot boxes. Now, the Steam owner has been presented with another challenge, in the form of a consumer class-action lawsuit once again related to loot boxes.
Why It Matters: Considering how Steam lootboxes have been up for over a decade, the lawsuits are a bit late, but they could end up holding weight if judicial experts are correct.
Law firm Hagens Berman has filed a lawsuit on behalf of consumers all over America, alleging that Valve has engineered its loot boxes to work as a revenue model that can extract money from the consumers through illegal gambling methods in games like Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2.
The class-action lawsuit accuses Valve of deliberately designing the Steam Community Market and loot boxes to enable the sale of digital items on third-party marketplaces, so that the company can profit from them.
To really drive home the point, the press release goes on to say that Valve has been especially careless, as they have exploited children to generate billions of Dollars through casino-like methods.
Moreover, under Washington law, where the suit has been filed, loot boxes do constitute a form of gambling. According to the law firm, users are putting real money on an unpredictable outcome that can then be sold for a material amount on Valve’s own marketplace, where the company gets a cut.
In the lawsuit, the law firm goes on to say that it wants to hold Valve accountable for stacking odds against players without making them aware of the risks and will put money back in the pockets of consumers.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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