Counter-Strike is one of the most played games on Steam, but in addition to the actual shooter gameplay, many players are primarily busy opening cases, a kind of loot box. An Austrian court has now decided that Valve must return a player’s money.
What kind of process was that? A trial conducted in Austria concerned loot boxes that are offered in the CS:GO successor Counter-Strike 2. In the tactical shooter, cases can be opened that contain skins for the weapons in the game.
Depending on their rarity and condition, the skins can fetch a lot of money on the Steam marketplace or from third-party providers. Time and time again, players spend large sums of money in order to perhaps win the big prize in the next case.
A court in Austria now found that the cases were illegal gambling and ordered Valve to pay back a player a total of 14,096.58 euros that he had spent on loot boxes (via Games Wirtschaft).
Counter-Strike 2 replaced CS:GO on September 27, 2023, but nothing changed in the loot boxes.
Counter-Strike 2 ushers in a new era – the most important changes in the video
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Litigation financier believes the fight against loot boxes has been won
What is the significance of the verdict? The court’s decision is interesting in that it is the first time in German-speaking countries that a judgment has been made regarding the loot boxes in Counter-Strike, as the litigation financier Richard Eibl explains (via press portal).
Eibl is the managing director of Padronus, a litigation financing company, which conducted the lawsuit as part of a class action in cooperation with a law firm.
The ruling is not yet final, but it could have far-reaching effects. Because Valve does not have a gambling license – if the purchase of cases with random content for real money is now considered gambling, the company behind Steam could lose several million euros in sales annually, estimates Eibl.
The litigation financier is certain: “The legal battle over loot boxes is over and won. The verdict is the end for loot boxes in Austria.” He does not assume that Valve will appeal and believes that the company’s chances would not look any better in the second instance.
Padronus had already prevailed with a law firm against Sony and EA in the spring on a similar legal issue, at that time regarding loot boxes in FIFA. MeinMMO spoke to lawyer Christian Solmecke about the verdict.
“The biggest challenge is often making judges understand the logic of video games”
What makes such processes difficult? As Eibl explains, “the biggest challenge” is often “making the judges understand the logic of video games, including their numerous anglicisms.” According to the litigation funder, the judges themselves have often never seen a video game or even played it themselves.
In this case, however, they were lucky that the judge had personal experience with Counter-Strike and was able to understand the facts immediately.
In addition to Austria, another of our neighboring countries has declared war on loot boxes: One of Germany’s neighboring countries is aiming to ban loot boxes: These games could be affected