2016 has been a troublesome year for Valve and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive when it comes to gambling. Throughout last year and this one, using skins in CS:GO gambling (transferring them through the Steam API as payments for bets) has become a big problem, with a multitude of third-party sites offering gambling services not in compliance with US law, and the authorities were forced to start an investigation.
The investigation started in February of this year, and was led by The Washington State Gambling Commission. Now the results are in, and the commission has ordered Valve to "take whatever actions are necessary" to ensure that their Steam platform cannot be used by other parties for gambling activities:
"All third party gambling sites have Steam accounts and use the Steam platform to conduct their gambling transactions", the commission writes in a press release. "These gambling transactions are automated and performed by a software program or 'bot,' and have proliferated so much that a recent market report by esports Betting Report indicates that one specific gambling website, CS:GO Lounge, brought in approximately $1 billion in 'skin' gambling between January 1 and August 1 this year alone."
Because of this the commission is ordering Valve to take action, and they stress that Valve as a company will be held accountable should they fail to do so. The commission also expresses a particular concern for minors being caught up in gambling problems due to the game's strong link to esports and its relatively young audience.
Valve on the other hand have issued a response stating that they have already started the process to rectify the situation. Pointing towards the "In-Game Item Trading Update" from July, which states that no form of gambling is permitted through the Steam platform, Valve's Doug Lombardi writes:
"Our position has not changed and so far we've sent cease and desist notices to over 40 sites."
Do you think Valve should take more action?