Maybe you don’t care. Maybe in your mind, it’s a free market situation; Valve is just allowing people to do what they want, and if some jerks abuse that freedom, it’s not Valve’s fault, you might argue.
That point of view falls apart when you begin to examine the reason Valve hasn’t stepped in to stop these sites. That is: Valve makes a massive profit from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gambling.
According to a report earlier this year from Bloomberg, as much as $2.3 billion worth of Global Offensive skins was used for betting in 2015. If and when those skins were cashed out by way of selling them on Steam, Valve collected 15 percent of every skin sale. Even if you're doubtful that as much as $2.3 billion in skins was ever sold, it’s reasonable to assume that Valve made bank.
Yesterday, we spoke to Jasper Ward, one of the attorneys involved in the previously mentioned lawsuit against Valve. Ward called Valve’s actions in relation to this budding gambling scene "unconscionable." Obviously he has skin in the game, so to speak, but the more I think about Valve’s role in all of this, the harder it is to disagree.
Perhaps the most damning part of all is how Valve has simply refused to comment on anything involving Global Offensive gambling. Now that litigation is involved, it’s even less likely we’ll hear a word.
Silence isn't new for Valve. It's a notoriously quiet company, slow to speak to press and fans alike. But with a situation this big, where some of Valve's loudest supporters — many of whom are underage — are being taken advantage of, the silence is deafening. Valve needs to make a case for why it hasn't acted in its audience's best interests. Right now, that inaction looks indefensible.