Aside from its massive success with Steam, Valve has also benefited from the longevity of Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike 2, which fueled massive in-game marketplaces. However, Dean Hall–the creator of DayZ and Icarus–believes that Valve should be taken to task for using gambling mechanics like loot boxes to monetize Counter-Strike 2.
“It’s something I think Valve does not get anywhere near enough criticism about,” Hall told Eurogamer. “I’m honestly disgusted with gambling mechanics in video games at all–they have absolutely no place. My challenge to game developers is that if they think these things are not a problem, they make the data available to universities who are crying out to study this stuff.”
Loot boxes have largely fallen out of favor in the industry, especially after many attempts to legislate or ban them entirely. In Counter-Strike 2, loot boxes can contain desirable objects like weapon or armor skins that can be traded or resold for real money. But there is often no guarantee that the loot boxes contain the items players want. If players are spending real money to purchase loot boxes over and over again to find what they’re looking for, it could be considered a form of gambling.
Earlier this year, Activision’s Overwatch 2 restored loot boxes to the franchise, but with changes to increase transparency of how the loot boxes work, as well as offering a guarantee that an item of Rare or better quality can be found in every loot box. Activision’s Heathstone helped usher in the age of loot boxes in 2014, and suffered a backlash because of it.
Last week, Valve updated the original Counter-Strike, which tanked the in-game re-seller market for weapons, and reportedly wiped out roughly $1.75 billion in value from sellers. Outside of the game, a planned fan-remake of Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Legacy, has reportedly run into some trouble with Valve, and may be shut down.
