After a major Counter-Strike: Go gambling controversy struck, Valve and Twitch have both issued statements that will majorly cramp the betting sites’ style -- and possibly their survival.
In a post on Steam dated July 13, Valve exec Erik Johnson has stated:
“These sites have basically pieced together their operations in two-part fashion. First, they are using the OpenID API as a way for users to prove ownership of their Steam accounts and items. Any other information they obtain about a user’s Steam account is either manually disclosed by the user or obtained from the user’s Steam Community profile (when the user has chosen to make their profile public). Second, they create automated Steam accounts that make the same web calls as individual Steam users.
“Using the OpenID API and making the same web calls as Steam users to run a gambling business is not allowed by our API nor our user agreements. We are going to start sending notices to these sites requesting they cease operations through Steam, and further pursue the matter as necessary. Users should probably consider this information as they manage their in-game item inventory and trade activity.”
In the statement, Johnson clarified that Valve receives no revenue from these betting sites and has never had a business relationship with them. He also wrote that Steam does not have a native way to turn virtual items into real-world currency.
In an official blog post, Twitch followed up with Johnson’s statement by making it clear that what breaks Valve’s TOS breaks Twitch’s as well.
“Today Valve released an announcement clarifying the intended use of Steam’s trading system and OpenID API. Valve specifically notes that using ‘the OpenID API and making the same web calls as Steam users to run a gambling business is not allowed by our API nor our user agreements.’
As a reminder, per Twitch’s Terms of Service, broadcasters are not permitted to stream content that breaks the terms of service or user agreements of third-parties. As such, content in which the broadcaster uses or promotes services that violate Valve’s stated restrictions is prohibited on Twitch.”
This marks two major blows for CS:Go gambling sites, which rely on Steam’s OpenID API to verify inventory and Twitch’s streaming capability to promote themselves.
The initial controversy began when popular YouTubers Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin and Tom ‘ProSyndicate’ Cassell were revealed as owners of a CS:Go betting site they promoted repeatedly without disclosing themselves as the owners.
This is, to say the least, a huge conflict of interest.
Counter-Strike: Go’s gambling scene is already legally murky because it heavily involves teens, though the law has been slow to catch up with this kind of virtual betting. In 2015 the CS:Go gambling scene was worth $2.3 billion alone. But lawsuits are incoming.
It remains to be seen how the crackdown from Valve and Twitch will affect these shady sites. However they scramble to carry on operations, being deprived of two major business avenues will be a tough obstacle to overcome.
