Valve have moved to dismiss a New York attorney general lawsuit accusing them of facilitating illegal gambling by way of lootboxes on Steam, after first seeking to try it in the court of public opinion. In a memo filed this week, the company offered a largely familiar defence against the New York AG lawsuit, hinging on the idea that randomised lootbox rewards can’t be defined as gambling under state law, because they are bought with virtual currency (which can be used for other purposes) and have no ‘real’ value as cash or property.
They also position the lawsuit as an attack on free speech, while – to my eye, anyway – skirting around the claim that lootbox design and presentation can be inherently manipulative.
