Valve Have Removed Item Trading From CS:GO & DOTA 2 In The Netherlands

After receiving two letters from the Dutch Gambling Authority, the Kansspelautoriteit, Valve have removed the ability to trade items from CS:GO and DOTA 2 for their customers in the Netherlands. They stood accused of violating the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act with loot boxes in the game, but while they still profess their innocence, have turned off trading in the region to avoid prosecution.

Here’s the statement by Valve, as captured by Redditor NasCS:

It all hinges on one very clear paragraph from the Dutch study into loot boxes and their legality:

“Loot boxes contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes are transferable. Loot boxes do not contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes are not transferable.”

Valve’s statement sounds amusingly confused at this, complaining that they were threatened with prosecution if they didn’t implement a remedy by 20th June, and that “The letters don’t tell us how to do that.”

Uh, Valve… it’s not that tricky to figure out and, funnily enough, turning off the ability trade in-game goods was your remedy to the situation. Valve have obviously hired Dutch legal counsel and will be trying to find a way to get around the law.

Source: Reddit via Eurogamer

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