A “skins gambling” lawsuit was filed in Washington State last month by a Native American Tribe that owns the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino citing that Valve’s CS:GO use of skins is illegal gambling. The Quinault Nation argues that Valve’s video game, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, did not have a license to operate, facilitate or otherwise engage in any form of gambling. The lawsuit was filed in Grays Harbor County, Washington.
Quinault Nation is a federally recognized sovereign Indian Nation consisting of Quinault and Queets tribes and descendants of five other coastal tribes. It owns and operates and Indian gaming casino licensed by Washington state and regulated by the Washington Gaming Commission.
Valve is a Bellevue-based video game and online content platform company. “Skins,” as defined by the lawsuit are primary currency used “by illegal, unregulated, and unlicensed online gambling website.” They are “add-ons” to enhance the video game experience. They can be bigger guns, different outfits and more. These “skins” must be purchased with money and are not included as part of buying the video game.
According to the lawsuit, Valve was complicit with the “skins” economy as it offered a “key” for $2.50 to access virtual items that were worth much more than the value of the token. It also “allowed gambling websites to use Valve accounts on Valve’s servers and Valve’s computers to effectuate gambling transactions.”
Below is an example that was embedded in the lawsuit.
The Quinault Nation is requesting a court order requiring Valve to stop offering crate opening online slot machine gaming until a time in which the Washington Gaming Commission can examine it to determine if it requires a license.
The lawsuit builds on previous litigation which included an attempt to bring a class-action lawsuit against Valve but those lawsuits were sent to arbitration as individual cases pursuant to a class action wavier and arbitration clause in Valve’s Subscriber Agreement.
Here, The Quinault Nation has an interest in Valve’s alleged “skins” gaming as they believe it takes away from its own legal and licensed gambling enterprise. They believe that Valve is engaging in unfair competition with the legally licensed, regulated gambling. Notably, it explains that this is due to neither Valve or internet gambling sites using Valve’s virtual items having to abide by gaming laws and regulations, and consumers and the plaintiffs being harmed as a result. It cites a consumer protection component as well since there are scammers out there that are not regulated that may sell fraudulent items on web sites.