It’s been a long reported fact that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has a skin gambling problem. The height of this issue was back in 2016, when Valve issued a statement against the practice and additionally released cease and desist letters to multiple gambling sites while also facing regulatory scrutiny and legal actions, one of which was thrown out earlier this year on a technicality.
Six years on, documentary reporting from YouTube channel People Make Games showcases that skin gambling in CS:GO is as active as ever and Valve stands accused of not lifting a finger since.
The video takes testimonials from several players who have fallen into a problem gambling trap as a result of these sites – many of whom started as young as 14 years of age – and also shares quotes from anonymous ex-Valve staff, one of whom claims that Valve is actually making a profit from the practice. Most of the ex-employees basically call out Valve’s “chaotic neutral,” hands-off approach to anything close to moderation, particularly since the company is accused by one employee of handing a problem off to someone instead of hiring teams of people to solve it.
Finally, the video closes with several questions that were sent to Valve that asked why it was hands-off, if it was aware that these sites draw in people who are legally too young to gamble, and whether it was concerned that the active removal of skin betting sites would crash the value of CS:GO skins in general. None of the questions got a response. “Who knows. Maybe this video coming out and the response to it will cause some people at Valve to have a long overdue conversation about this whole situation,” the video concludes.
The report runs about 30 minutes, but it is an in-depth, complete, and comprehensive look into a long-standing problem. Additionally, it is only the first part of a two-part series: The second video will look at the “fascinating” way Valve operates informed by “dozens” of interviews.
