Valve bans 40 CS:GO traders, leaving over £1.5m worth in-game items in limbo
Fly off the gamble.
Valve has banned around 40 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) traders linked to gambling sites, essentially wiping out over £1.5m ($2m) worth of in-game trade items.
As spotted by Dexerto (via PC Gamer), the bans come after gambling site CSGOEmpire published a spreadsheet of CS:GO traders it believed were part of a cryptocurrency money laundering scheme allegedly operating through a rival gambling site called CSGORoll.
Whilst Valve has yet to comment on whether or not the bans were connected to the details revealed in the spreadsheet, it seems as though all but one of the accounts leaked on the spreadsheet have now been banned.
The owner of CSGORoll has vehemently denied the accusations, saying it was only when it announced its most recent partnership that "brutal, sinister, and callous attacks" were levelled at the organisation.
"I own a gamified skins trading platform, by law, this is not classified as a casino in our largest markets because we do not offer cash withdrawals," the owner explained.
"Contracted skins suppliers are not allowed to play games on the platform, thus we can legally pay them crypto for their skins to always ensure that we have a liquid marketplace. This was all checked by lawyers years ago, and we keep ourselves up to date on modern regulations to always make sure that we are compliant with the law."
According to PC Gamer, the ban has unsettled other traders who have used either Roll or Empire, prompting widespread everything-must-go CS:GO items sales.
ICYMI, CS:GO once again smashed its all-time concurrent PC user peak, topping 1.8m concurrent users in mid-May.
This not only smashes its own simultaneous user record, but cements CS:GO as one of Steam's biggest games. Ever.