Valve in Legal Trouble from CS:GO Gambling

The industry of professional eSports has several things in common with traditional sports. Both are exceptionally difficult to break into, are notorious for facilitating performance enhancing drug use, and are often used in illegal gambling. Speaking of gambling, a Connecticut man by the name of Michael John McLeod has been placing bets on matches of Valve's Counter Strike: Global Offensive since 2014. He's far from alone. The industry of video game betting is a multi-billion dollar per year industry. But what makes McLeod special is that he's now suing Valve for letting it happen.

Admit it, you imagined the sound.

The gambling mechanics haven't been run or even touched by Valve themselves. The bets are typically done by players wagering skins or other digital goodies. Since these collections of pixels have actual value, certain independent sites can pay cash for them. And again, Valve does not appear on the list of bookies. However, this industry is far from secret. At best, Valve has chosen to ignore the activity, refusing to stop it in any way. At worst, they are accused of directly aiding or funding some of the sites that facilitate the gambling. It is unsure how far this case will go, but McLeod is gunning for class-action status. Considering how many could be involved in that, this could mean bad news for Valve.