“Loot boxes are quintessential gambling”, — says New York Attorney General as it sues Valve

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Valve, accusing the company of promoting illegal gambling and contributing to addiction among children through “loot boxes”, according to Reuters.

In a complaint, loot boxes are called “quintessential gambling” that violates state constitutional and penal laws, with truly valuable rewards being hard to win, while most items are worth pennies.

James noted that Valve made billions of dollars selling “keys” to open “loot boxes,” including in one game where the process resembled a slot machine with a wheel that spins through various items before stopping.

The attorney general is seeking restitution for players, plus a fine of three times Valve's alleged illegal gains. The company has not yet commented on the allegations.

This is not the first time that developers have been held accountable for promoting gambling: in January 2025, the US Federal Trade Commission fined Genshin Impact publisher Cognosphere $20 million for deceiving children and others about the odds of winning valuable prizes from loot boxes.

It should be noted that in China, game developers, including Perfect World, the publisher of Dota 2 in the PRC, are required to publish the odds of items dropping from treasure chests. This measure ensures transparency in obtaining rare items and other rewards, allowing players to make more informed choices when purchasing and opening chests, and to avoid violating local laws.

As previously reported by CyberScore, Sportradar shared statistics on match-fixing monitoring for 2025.