Valve has found itself in a sticky situation recently when the Washington State Gambling Commission accused the game developer of facilitating gambling in some questionable sites.
The commission said the game developer has been using skins for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as a form of currency in some gambling sites. What happens was that some of the skins in the game are very rare that they have been assigned real world currency which, in turn, the said gambling sites are using as chips.
In response to the accusations hurled against them by the commission, Valve said that they "have no relationship with such gambling sites." They further added that these gambling sites can operate solely and independently apart from the game developer's knowledge. Valve also emphasized that as much as they don't encourage Steam customers to use these illegal gambling sites, they also do not receive any revenue from them so the commission has no right to accuse the company with unfounded accusations.
The Steam developer also said that they have followed the commission's regulations to the last minute and even collaborated with the organization to crack down on the said illegal sites; thus, it is very surprising that they're now being accused as part of these illegalities.
"We were surprised and disappointed that the Commission chose to publicly accuse Valve of illegal activity and threaten our employees with criminal charges. There is no factual or legal support for these accusations. Notwithstanding, as you know Valve has taken its own steps to discourage skin gambling on third party websites. We are open to further cooperation with the commission," Valve said in a statement it issued in defense of itself.
Valve also pointed out that the gambling commission has gone public with its accusations without citing which law or stipulation the developer has broken. The Steam developer also said that it does not understand the logic behind the commission's move against them. It went on to challenge the board to cite a citation or regulation that it thinks the game developer has violated.
In closing, the game company said that it will be "happy to collaborate with the Commission" provided it finds more illegal gambling skins sites that are operating illegally in the Washington state as well as the Steam account these sites are using.
