Topic: CS:GO is a gambling madhouse

[idolminds]

Article from earlier this year.

Because CS:GO has weapon skins with different rarities and there is a marketplace to trade them, some weird things have sprung up. Namely, betting on matches and gambling using the skins as currency. With the way the marketplace works with buying and trading "keys" to unlock crates to open more skins there is a round-about way to convert keys and skins into real money on 3rd party web sites.

Today it has come to light that several big name gaming youtubers that were promoting these gambling sites actually owned the sites and didn't disclose it. They even rigged their bets so they could have videos of them "winning" thousands of dollars. All of this is pretty illegal.

The gambling isn't new and people are now asking what Valve should have been doing to prevent it. Bots trading thousands of keys and skins around has to be suspicious, but since Valve gets money from the buying of keys and every marketplace transaction they haven't had any real reason to prevent it.

It's all pretty crazy and I'm sure we'll be hearing more about it in the coming days. I'll update if I find an article that helps explain everything.

EDIT

I haven't seen this whole video (#dialupproblems) but it seems to help explain things.

[Xessive]

I've been seeing articles cropping up about this strange phenomenon. Gambling is pretty messed up as is, but these YouTubers rigging stuff? Damn, that's despicable.

[Cobra951]

I find it a lot more troublesome that the big boys in the videogaming business are corrupting the industry to the point where this is possible, and then turning a blind eye to it.

[Pugnate]

I am sure the profits are a drop in the bucket to Valve compared to the negative publicity. I doubt they ignored this for financial reasons.

[Cobra951]

Sure.  Makes sense.  The corruption is the bulk of the issue.  These seedy small operators couldn't do a thing without big-money outfits making it possible for them in the first place by turning videogaming into Vegas gaming.  That's what really bothers me.

[Quemaqua]

Just another stupid thing to get caught up in over games that aren't even particularly great. This kind of stuff has certainly pushed me away from certain segments of the industry, and I've become very annoyed by streamers and youtubers in general lately. I pretty much stopped watching the few that I occasionally did because I'm tired of the completely self-serving agendas, and the fact that people respect them the way we respect journalists even though an alarming number of them know absolutely nothing about the gaming industry as a whole. This kind of sad bullshit comes as little surprise.

[idolminds]

Dudes have been added to one of the lawsuits that Valve was already facing over CS:GO gambling.

Podcast on ESPN talking with a lawyer about this.

[Quemaqua]

The plot thickens. I'm kinda curious how all this will shake out.

[Cobra951]

Within that article, there's a link to this one.  It pretty much echoes my feelings above, and uses a hell of a lot more facts than I knew to make its case.  Valve is shamefully corrupting the multiplayer videogame scene for the sake of shady profits.  The gambling starts right in the game's own pot-luck microtransactions, and is completed by the Valve-supplied facility to sell virtual skins for real money.

[Xessive]

This could be the reason Valve has been nonvocal about CS:GO.

The Cologne tournament just started today, so they likely didn't want anything to interfere, at least not until after the tourney.

[idolminds]

Valve isn't going to say anything because they are currently in lawsuits over this. Also because they are Valve and never say anything about anything.

Eurogamer was given email exchanges between a youtuber and one of these gambling sites showing how the gambling in the videos is all rigged.

[Cobra951]

Well, they've said something now.

. . . a number of gambling sites started leveraging the Steam trading system, and there's been some false assumptions about our involvement with these sites. We'd like to clarify that we have no business relationships with any of these sites. We have never received any revenue from them. And Steam does not have a system for turning in-game items into real world currency [my emphasis].

These sites have basically pieced together their operations in two-part fashion. First, they are using the OpenID API as a way for users to prove ownership of their Steam accounts and items. Any other information they obtain about a user's Steam account is either manually disclosed by the user or obtained from the user's Steam Community profile (when the user has chosen to make their profile public). Second, they create automated Steam accounts that make the same web calls as individual Steam users.

Using the OpenID API and making the same web calls as Steam users to run a gambling business is not allowed by our API nor our user agreements. We are going to start sending notices to these sites requesting they cease operations through Steam, and further pursue the matter as necessary.

My apologies for thinking (and saying) the translation to real money was their doing.  My disdain for turning games into never-ending revenue streams remains.

[idolminds]

True, you can only sell them for "Steam Bux" and purchase other video games but for someone that buys video games thats basically the same as money.

Good on them for saying something and doing something about it. Though it kinda sucks it had to get this much attention before they'd bother to crack down. This shit has been happening for a while, and in their other games (DOTA2 and TF2).

[idolminds]

Washington State Gambling Commission Orders Valve To Stop Skin Gambling Via Steam[/quote]

The Washington State Gambling Commission has ordered game maker Valve Corporation to stop the transfer of skins via its Steam API, it announced in a release Wednesday.

The commission sent a letter to Valve co-founder Gabe Newell on Sept. 27 ordering the company to cease and desist offering the popular form of virtual currency gambling related to its game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

“‘Skins’ continue to be used as consideration for illegal gambling activities on third party websites,” the WSGC said in Wednesday’s release.

.

The Bellevue, Wash.-based video game company has until Oct. 14 to respond to the letter and explain how it is in full compliance with Washington state’s gambling laws.

If it does not comply, the WSGC letter said, Valve could risk the seizure and forfeiture of property used to conduct illegal activities, forfeiture of its corporate charter, as well as criminal charges.

[Cobra951]

Well, that escalated nicely.  Serves them right.

[idolminds]

This one probably isnt worth its own thread, but it does involve CS:GO so I'll put it here.

Remember back in the old days of Half Life where you could make a custom "spray" and spray it on the environment? I remember! It was fun and cool and full of porn. Counter Strike: Source had sprays, too! But strangely, CS:GO didn't. Until now!

Yeah but these arent the cool porn sprays. You can't just *make* a custom spray.

How do I get in-game graffiti?

There are three ways players can get in-game graffiti:

Players have a chance to receive graffiti as a free weekly drop for ranking up.

Graffiti Boxes featuring art created by Steam Community Artists can be purchased. A portion of the proceeds from sales of Community Graffiti Boxes is shared among the community artists.

Individual Graffiti patterns can be purchased from the Steam Market.

So either by chance or you pay money. At least it's not like they are locking the good ones behi...

How many different types of graffiti are there?

There are two different types of graffiti patterns; monochrome and multi-colored. Monochrome (one color) patterns are received as rank up drops and multi-colored patterns are received when purchasing a graffiti box. Both types of graffiti can be traded and sold on the Steam Market.

Oh so the multicolored ones require money. That kinda sucks, but once I get one I can spray it all over the pla....

How many times can I use a graffiti pattern?

When a player unseals graffiti they can apply that pattern 50 times. Players who unseal a graffiti pattern they already have in their Inventory will receive 50 additional charges to their existing supply.

Fuck you, Valve.

[Xessive]

So.. They added a new commodity for gamblers to use?