NYAG formally opposes Valve's motion to dismiss New York lawsuit

Valve's troubles with the State of New York continues as the Attorney General's office files for a plea to deny Valve's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed earlier this year and after a community announcement, Valve responded back by filing a motion to dismiss the gambling lawsuit filed by Letitia James, arguing that the NYAG is attempting to twist cosmetic in-game items into a gambling scandal despite players always receiving exactly what they paid for. New York's Attorney General, Letitia James also claimed that she was "concerned for the safety of children" when the lawsuit was filed earlier this year.

While the NYAG claimed that Valve had embedded illegal gambling into their games, the developer struck back by comparing the loot-box mechanism to everyday items like gifts in cereal boxes, baseball cards and other mystery boxes.

The latest development comes from the New York's Attorney General who has filed for the court to deny Valve's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Upon reiterating their stance against "gambling", the NYAG addressed numerous points laid out by Valve in their previous response. The NYAG argues that charging users to open a loot-box which contains rare items worth substantial amounts on money constitutes "illegal and unlicensed" gambling, given that a majority of users end up losing their money by getting back an item worth pennies.

Valve's also stated that skins held no value and gave players no advantage in-game which was also met with a counterpoint. While Valve claimed that skins were purely cosmetic, the NYAG aggressively argued that virtual skins were "Something of Value" and were legally defined as "property" or "articles exchangeable for money or property". The Attorney General's office accused Valve's engineers of deliberating fostering an architecture that allowed third-party sites to hand cash-outs in exchange for in-game items.

The recent filing also attempts to weaponize Valve's own terms and agreements against them, especially the Steam Subscriber Agreement that allegedly "prohibits" third-party cash-outs on paper while Valve's engineers build a system that deliberately assists aforementioned third-party cash-out sites. The legal framework of the NYAG's response turns the tables to take a new approach while maintaining identical core allegations.

Valve are yet to make a public announcement or file a response.

Timeline of events so far:

• NYAG files lawsuit against Valve (25/02/2026)

• Valve releases a statement to the community (11/03/2026)

• Valve files motion to dismiss the lawsuit (18/05/2026)

• NYAG opposes Valve's motion to dismiss the lawsuit (29/06/2026)