Valve hit with another lawsuit

Another day and Valve receives another lawsuit. This time from Hagens Berman, a law firm based in Washington on behalf of two players who allegedly lost money opening Counter-Strike 2's cases (loot boxes). Earlier this month, Valve was handed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the Attorney General of New York City, with an alleged concern towards the safety of children. Many social media users termed the lawsuit as "selective outrage" and called out the irony.

This lawsuit seems more or less the same with lesser emphasis on children's safety. In the complaint, the law firm compares Counter-Strike's case openings to the operating mechanism of slot machines and then went on to allege Valve of deceiving players with the illusion of near-misses by flashing the rare or valuable item slot right next to the winning item. However, Valve implemented a change way back in 2018 to remove such near-misses. At the moment, when the symbol for a rare valuable item (gold) appears, it is guaranteed to be the winning item.

The lawsuit uses the same images from the lawsuit filed by New York City's Attorney General Letitia James. Once again, the plaintiffs argue that the loot box system falls under the gambling category. Valve has not responded to either of these lawsuits publicly but insiders speculate that Valve would fight both cases aggressively.

Check out the law firm's press release here