Valve Will Be Going After Steam Item Gambling Sites

Following news that Valve is being sued over creating an environment in which gambling sites that make use of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive skins could exist, the company released an official statement on the matter yesterday. The statement confirms that Valve has "no business relationships with any of these sites." The sites make use of the OpenID API that Valve provides in a way that is not allowed.

The method that these gambling sites use is explained as follows.

These sites have basically pieced together their operations in a two-part fashion. First, they are using the OpenID API as a way for s to prove ownership of their Steam s and items. Any other information they obtain about a 's Steam is either manually disclosed by the or obtained from the ’s Steam Community profile (when the has chosen to make their profile public). Second, they create automated Steam s that make the same web calls as individual Steam s.

Moreover, Valve will be going after sites that make use of the OpenID API to run gambling services. The company will "start sending notices to these sites requesting they cease operations through Steam, and further pursue the matter as necessary."