Gaming giant Valve facing more litigation

Video game giant Valve is facing more eSports skin-betting litigation in Seattle following the filing in a federal court this week of a request for a class action by parents of skin-wagering youths resident in three US states.

The Seattle Times reports that the unnamed parents from Oregon, Illinois, and Missouri claim their sons lost thousands of dollars in so-called “skins” gambling in the Steam marketplace Valve oversees

Valve has yet to respond with any comment on the new litigation, but after previous litigation and publicity the company took action to stop skin gambling via Steam (see previous reports).

That past litigation continued for several months before being dismissed on jurisdictional grounds in August this year after the case was heard in Seattle. However, the case was refiled in King County Superior Court, only to have Valve again request and receive a transfer to federal court in Seattle where it remains in contention.

Valve has in the past insisted that it does not engage in, promote or facilitate gambling and “there is no factual or legal support for these accusations.”

The company has said that it has no business relationship with gambling sites, and the Steam software tools that the third party sites use for wagering purposes are legal in Washington state.

The new litigation suggests that this position is similar to a hypothetical case in which a bartender sells gambling chips to customers on the way in, allows another person to cash out those same chips, and turns a blind eye to the gambling that took place in the meantime in the backroom.

“Valve had the power to prevent the gambling operators from setting up shop, chose not to stop them, and in fact gave them the keys to the backroom,” the lawsuit claims.

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