People Make Games Detailed the Issues with CS:GO Trading Websites

The YouTube channel People Make Games has released a video investigation into how Counter-Strike: Global Offensive developer Valve uses gambling models in the game.

While the video reflects the problems that many were aware of and already expressed their concern about them from time to time, it presents facts in such a thorough and coherent way that it becomes absolutely clear how the company's business practices are actually potentially unethical.

The authors of the channel drew attention to CS:GO's loot box system pointing out several psychological tricks this system uses to make players spend more on the game.

In addition, the authors talked about a number of black-market trading websites that plugin into people's Steam accounts and make it possible to trade their CS:GO in-game items for real money. In the video, these websites are referred to as "shady casinos" which allow players to gamble "tens of billions of dollars" and, in addition, often involve inducing underaged players to gamble.

Another problem with those websites, according to the video, is that, unlike most physical casinos, there is no governing body that would make sure they're operating in a way that is fair or legal. And while these websites started to exist almost ten years ago and obviously hurt CS:GO players, the video points out that Valve did almost nothing about them.

The authors also talked to players who shared their experience of using the game's loot boxes and trading websites and detailed what problems their gambling caused. It also explained why this problem is bigger than CS:GO and clarified how Valve actually makes a profit from these gambling websites.

You can learn more by watching the full video here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.