A class action lawsuit has been filed against Valve, accusing the PC gaming giant of running an illegal gambling operation through loot boxes in video games.
The lawsuit was filed on March 9, 2026, in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. Valve is being accused of knowingly operating an unlawful gambling system. The lawsuit also alleges that loot boxes were carefully engineered to extract money from customers, including children, through deceptive psychological tactics.
Hagens Berman is the firm representing the proposed class of US consumers against Valve. Steve Berman, Hagens Berman’s founder and managing partner, states that Valve stacked the odds against consumers seeking entertainment. Now, they “intend to hold Valve accountable and put money back in the pockets of consumers.”
Valve Was Recently Hit With a Similar Complaint
The state of New York is also suing Valve over the gambling practices created by its loot box system. Counter-Strike 2 and DOTA 2 are mentioned in both filings. Hagens Berman also has a website where consumers can contact them if they believe they were victims of the alleged predatory practices related to opening loot boxes in Counter-Strike, Dota 2, or Team Fortress 2.
Much like the New York lawsuit, Berman is targeting the fact that children can sometimes be the ones opening loot boxes, therefore being exposed to gambling practices early on in life.
“What makes this case particularly egregious is that Valve knew children were on the other end of these transactions,” said Berman. “Rather than protect young players through age verification or a parental consent mechanism, we believe they rigged the game to extract more money from them.”
Learn more about the complaint at this link. Insider Gaming will continue to bring the latest information on this matter as more news develops.
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