Coffeezilla Critiques Valve’s Relationship with Gambling

American YouTuber and journalist Stephen Findeisen, better known as Coffeezilla, has released a new video, highlighting Valve’s relationship with gambling and the company’s seeming lack of oversight when it comes to Counter-Strike gambling.

Coffeezilla, best known for exposing scams and frauds, harshly critiqued the video game company, calling it “the biggest casino of them all.”

What Exactly Is the Problem?

The popularity of Valve’s Counter-Strike franchise has long nourished a rich third-party content ecosystem. The most notorious of this content has undoubtedly been skins gambling – a form of wagering where people use expensive in-game cosmetics as bets and prizes.

Since cosmetics are won from loot boxes, some tend to be exceedingly rare. While players can sell skins on the official Steam Marketplace, many prefer to use third-party websites instead. Some of these eventually started offering games of chance that use skins as currency.

The questionable legality of skins gambling and whether it truly classifies as gambling have long been discussed, with opinions remaining mixed. One thing, however, is for certain – Counter-Strike gambling is a huge industry in which huge sums of money transfer owners.

Coffeezilla Has Been Exploring the Ecosystem in His Latest Videos

Coffeezilla’s foray into the somewhat shady nature of CS gambling started with his “I Got Bribed By Casinos, But I Exposed Them Instead” video, which he released two weeks ago. Since then, the journalist has released several videos on the topic, unveiling the world of skins gambling and the bitter rivalry between sites such as CSGORolls and CSGOEmpire.

The follow-up video, “The Dark Side of Counter-Strike 2,” revealed influencers’ involvement in the promotion of such websites. This video also saw Coffeezilla reach out to young people who have been hurt by skins gambling.

The YouTuber’s latest video, however, seeks to expose Valve as the chief reason for this controversial ecosystem.

The Biggest Casino of Them All – Valve

In Coffeezilla’s Deception, Lies, and Valve video, currently boasting some 4.1 million views, the journalist explored Valve’s intervention or lack thereof and accused the company of exposing young players to gambling.

Coffeezilla interviewed players, some of whom started betting with skins as young as thirteen. He also alleged that Valve is very much aware of this issue but has chosen not to take serious action against offshore gambling websites.

He suggested that Valve might be okay with skins gambling since it encourages loot box sales, earning the gaming company billions of dollars. Additionally, skin trades themselves benefit Valve since the company, which owns the platform, always takes a cut.

Loot boxes themselves have been a subject of controversy within the video gaming world. While a few markets do classify them as gambling or at least gambling-like mechanics, most do not. Coffeezilla explained that this is because people cannot directly cash out skins and compared the ecosystem to the Pachinko industry in Japan.

Coffeezilla noted that the last time Valve has sent cease-and-desist orders to gambling sites was eight years ago. Since the company never followed up on its orders, the sites continued operating as usual. Coffeezilla remained firm that Valve is the best-equipped party to deal with the problem it has created.

Coffeezilla concluded that he wouldn’t mind Counter-Strike going down the gambling route if it is willing to acknowledge the fact and ID-check its customers. As things stand now, Valve wants “gambling with none of the responsibilities,” the YouTuber said.

He noted that Valve did not reply for comment on this story.