I think I didn’t explain it well enough.

Its not just software that you can buy as in the case of LoL and essence. You can also buy highly expensive hardware produced by Valve itself which you can either keep or sell irl just like you would sll your phone or laptop. I.e. there are accessible ways to convert into irl value. I’m not intimately familiar with LoL, but can you convert essence into a VR headset or something similar? Afaik, the answer is “no”.

It might be something you personally like but that’s not the issue. The issue is whether the system is similar enough to gambling to warrant similar regulation. And there are a lot of arguments in favour of regulation. Understandby, this is relatively low on lawmakers’ priorities. However, some EU countries have already moved in that direction, ouright banning games with gambling systems if they fail to uphold laws.

Not exactly.

You can’t directly convert steam credits into legal tender without third-party services. But you can buy products and then sell yhose if you wanted to for legal tender. Using CSGO2 + Steam Marketplace and Store , you could sell enough skins to buy Valve’s products, including hardware such as the Steam Deck and their VR headset. So yes, there are ways to convert the skins into value irl.

We should also keep in mind that Valve has behavioral psychologists from the casino industry working on this system. I wonder why.

Agreed, we should not make it seem like Valve has no responsibility just because it doesn’t directly own the casinos, gambling sites, etc. They benefit financially from the way the whole system is set up and they know it. Every round and transaction directly benefits Valve financially. The more underage people get addicted to the casino system they have going on, the more money Valve gets.

I mean, who made the GUI a copy of a slot machine?

They could end this whole thing tomorrow if they wanted to.

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