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The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

Dexter

Arcane
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
15,655
http://www.seattletimes.com/busines...es-suit-over-role-in-gambling-on-video-games/
Valve faces suit alleging role in gambling on video games
Originally published June 24, 2016 at 2:02 pm Updated June 24, 2016 at 6:41 pm

The suit was lodged by a Fairfield, Conn., man and involves “Counterstrike: Global Offensive,” a popular game from Valve.

By Joshua Brustein and Eben Novy-Williams

Bloomberg News

Valve, the Bellevue video-game company behind the popular “Counterstrike: Global Offensive” is being sued for its role in the multibillion-dollar gambling economy that has fueled the game’s popularity.

Michael John McLeod, a Fairfield, Conn., man who has been gambling on “CS: GO” since 2014, filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Connecticut alleging that Valve violated gambling laws and engaged in racketeering with a handful of offshore gambling companies.

McLeod is asking for class-action status for the lawsuit, which if granted could extend widely. The complaint, first reported by Polygon, doesn’t give a specific request for damages and doesn’t spell out exactly how much money McLeod lost by betting on the site.

The suit comes two months after Bloomberg published an investigation into the rise of so-called “skins” gambling, an increasingly prominent part of professional video gaming. Though it’s poorly understood by people outside the gaming world, bettors will wager some $7.4 billion this year, according to a recent estimate from Eiler & Krejcik Gaming and Narus Advisors.

They do so — and skirt existing gambling laws — by betting with virtual goods (decorative weapons called skins) that they can earn by playing “CS: GO” or can buy directly from Valve. The company allows those goods to serve as chips on independent websites that take bets on the outcome of professional video-game matches or that run various casino-style games.

Players can redeem their winnings for cash through other independent websites. While Valve doesn’t facilitate that exchange itself, it has been criticized for turning a blind eye to those that do. According to the complaint, Valve provided money, technical support and advice to such websites as CSGO Lounge and Diamonds, which take bets, and OPSkins, which runs a market where virtual goods are traded and can be redeemed for cash.

Other video-game companies have taken steps to avoid this trade, and Chris Grove, the author of the Eilers & Krejcik report, says Valve could do the same. The company hasn’t responded to a request for comment.

“I think what everyone will be watching for is Valve’s response. They haven’t had much to say publicly on the topic, and this suit could change that,” said Grove. “I don’t think this suit alone will be that damaging — although if it advances further towards class-action status, then things get trickier to handicap.”

:hero: Godspeed
 

pippin

Guest
As someone else already said, esports can be considered a serious sport now that there's corruption on it.
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
It would surprise me if Valve actually gave money to and/or somehow supported these websites.
 

Astral Rag

Arcane
Joined
Feb 1, 2012
Messages
7,771
Developer claims Valve removed its game from Steam at Activision's behest


2001137329.png


It's rough news for your game to be removed during the Steam summer sale. It's even rougher news when you find out that a large developer is supposedly behind it.

The developers behind Orion, an independent science fiction dinosaur shooting game on Steam, have written a post on the Steam forums saying that Valve has removed their game from Steam due to a violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Searching for Orion on Google currently yields a link that returns to the front page of the Steam store.

It's a confusing takedown, happening at what may be the worst time for the Orion developers: during Steam's summer sale.

According to the DMCA complaint, the request was made by a representative of Activision, publisher of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

The complaint accuses the Orion developers of copying the models of 3 Black Ops 3 guns: the M8A7 rifle, the Haymaker rifle, and the Bal-27 rifle. (James has created a set of comparative images between the game's guns for others to review.)

David James, Orion's lead developer, tells Gamasutra that Valve never gave him any advance warning or any screenshots or other information to help explain why the guns would be in violation. "In theory we could do the same thing back to [Activision] for the same reasons," James says. "Its very broken."

After reviewing his game's guns some more, James thinks there might be a visual similarity between his game's auto-shotgun and Black Ops 3's M8A7, but alleges both guns take inspiration from the modern-day M1 Garand, and says that wouldn't be defendable under copyright.

He offered Gamasutra no explanation as to why the designs of other two Black Ops 3 guns mentioned in the complaint might be seen to be infringed upon by Orion.

James is also frustrated because the DMCA request means Orion won't be on Steam during the summer sale, and the 10 business-day period Orion will be offline will dramatically affect their revenue (which James says will effectively be 11 business days with the July 4th holiday.)

We've reached out to representatives from Valve and Activision for comment, and will update this story with any notable replies

:incline:
One less shitty game on Steam
 

pippin

Guest
If you steal assets or whatever you really know what you're doing. So I wouldn't be so defensive of hacks, no matter how big or small they are.
 

pippin

Guest
In other words, first they came for the shitty shovelware...

It is telling that Steam didn't remove that game until they got a DMCA takedown. If they cared about shit games polluting their store they would have removed it and the other 9000 long ago.

Well, wasn't it discovered that the process to get a game on Steam is p. much automatic? Remember the guy who used this or that loophole to get his game there.
 

gaussgunner

Arcane
Joined
Jul 22, 2015
Messages
6,151
Location
ХУДШИЕ США
Well, wasn't it discovered that the process to get a game on Steam is p. much automatic? Remember the guy who used this or that loophole to get his game there.

Indie devs used to bitch about Greenlight being a like a frat hazing / popularity contest type thing. Some shit got approved, some good games got rejected, but at least they erred on the side of Reject. Then Valve opened the floodgates in... 2014. It's still not easy but apparently it's automatic for casual shitware companies that know the system.
 

pippin

Guest
Most of the Greenlight stuff was there so users could have an illusion of influence in the community. As usual, only a handful of games were really great.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Another round of Left 4 Dead 3 rumors and speculations: http://www.valvetime.net/threads/le...-destinations-workshop-tools-tutorial.256357/

Valve's Tristan Reidford has lightly teased Left 4 Dead 3 in a tutorial for the Destinations Workshop Tools.

The eighth image in the tutorial, titled "08_directory_fun.png," showed a conveniently placed folder called "left4dead3."

tristan-l4d3-folder-tease-png.25628


From the pessimists perspective, this was just a mistake, but it's too convenient that the folder viewport was scrolled exactly so that left4dead3 was shown first.

According to Tristan's Valve Developer Wiki contribution history, the image was first uploaded on June 28, and then nearly 24 hours after the community noticed the tease, was replaced by a poorly Photoshop'd version to remove the Left 4 Dead 3 reference.

Tristan's Valve Developer Wiki contribution history:

* 17:59 (-8 GMT), June 29, 2016 . . File:08 directory fun.png ‎ (Tristan uploaded a new version of "File:08 directory fun.png") (current)
* 13:49 (-8 GMT), June 28, 2016 . . File:08 directory fun.png ‎

Tristan's Steam profile says he's played about 348 hours of Left 4 Dead 2 in the past two weeks. Also, Valve have released at least five updates this year alone for the franchise.

So based on all the rumors and leaks in recent years, it seems that Left 4 Dead 3 is likely a next :gasp: big game coming out from Valve.
 

Nomad_Blizz

Arcane
Joined
Dec 18, 2014
Messages
332
I doubt it. Valve used to make games for money, now they have figured out how to make money without making games.
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
It's not really a big revelation. L4D is the easiest franchise for them to continue. All you have to do is design about 16 new maps. It's not as if L4D2 had many gameplay improvements over the first.
 

A horse of course

Guest
L4D2 was worse than the first due to over-complicating the special infected and screwing up the atmosphere with fucking clowns and comedy frying pans.

Would still look forward to L4D3 though, it's pretty much the only living Valve IP I care about.
 

Caim

Arcane
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
15,468
Location
Dutchland
Another round of Left 4 Dead 3 rumors and speculations: http://www.valvetime.net/threads/le...-destinations-workshop-tools-tutorial.256357/

Tristan's Steam profile says he's played about 348 hours of Left 4 Dead 2 in the past two weeks.

So based on all the rumors and leaks in recent years, it seems that Left 4 Dead 3 is likely a next :gasp: big game coming out from Valve.
Two weeks is 14 days. 14*24 is 336. Which is 12 less than 348.

Where did those twelve extra hours come from? Is it because Gaben is an object of great mass that warps time around himself?
 

Spectacle

Arcane
Patron
Joined
May 25, 2006
Messages
8,363
Another round of Left 4 Dead 3 rumors and speculations: http://www.valvetime.net/threads/le...-destinations-workshop-tools-tutorial.256357/

Tristan's Steam profile says he's played about 348 hours of Left 4 Dead 2 in the past two weeks.

So based on all the rumors and leaks in recent years, it seems that Left 4 Dead 3 is likely a next :gasp: big game coming out from Valve.
Two weeks is 14 days. 14*24 is 336. Which is 12 less than 348.

Where did those twelve extra hours come from? Is it because Gaben is an object of great mass that warps time around himself?
You've never heard about Valve Time™ before?
 

Alienman

Retro-Fascist
Patron
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
17,046
Location
Mars
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Never forget men. Gabe is a brony.
 

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