On Monday, March 9, 2026, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Valve. The lawsuit says that Valve has been knowingly operating an illegal gambling operation through their loot box system integrated that has been integrated into several titles available through Steam.
This is a class-action lawsuit led by the Hagens Berman firm. Steve Berman, founder and managing partner of Hagens Bermans, says that they want "to hold Valve accountable and put money back in the pockets of consumers." The firm says that Valve is "knowingly operating unlawful gambling through its loot box system, a feature the lawsuit alleges was carefully engineered to extract money from consumers, including children, through deceptive, casino-style psychological tactics."
We believe Valve deliberately engineered its gambling platform and profited enormously from it. Consumers played these games for entertainment, unaware that Valve had allegedly already stacked the odds against them. We intend to hold Valve accountable and put money back in the pockets of consumers.
Valve distributes loot boxes to players for free through its games Counter-Strike (including Counter-Strike 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive), Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2, which attract millions of players every month. Loot boxes are locked virtual containers that, when unlocked, give users a chance to win a valuable cosmetic prize, such as a weapon skin or character accessory.
To unlock a loot box, players must purchase a key from Valve for approximately $2.50. Players have no control over the prize inside a loot box. The prize and odds of winning a high-value prize is determined entirely by Valve’s software. The complaint alleges the prize is typically worth only pennies. But on rare occasions, it can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.
To unlock a loot box, players must purchase a key from Valve for approximately $2.50. Players have no control over the prize inside a loot box. The prize and odds of winning a high-value prize is determined entirely by Valve’s software. The complaint alleges the prize is typically worth only pennies. But on rare occasions, it can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.
The firm also likens the experience of unlocking a loot box in Counter-Strike to that of a virtual slot machine. If this all sounds incredibly familiar to you, that could be due to the fact that this is the second lawsuit filed against Valve over the past month over their loot boxes. On February 25, 2026, New York's attorney general Letitia James, also filed a lawsuit against Valve. That lawsuit claims that Valve is "promoting illegal gambling and threatening to addict children through its use of 'loot boxes'."
Hagens Berman's class-action lawsuit against Valve claims that the company "sold billions of dollars' worth of loot box keys for its Counter-Strike series alone." Berman continues to claim, "Valve knew children were on the other end of these transactions."
Rather than protect young players through age verification or a parental consent mechanism, we believe they rigged the game to extract more money from them.
