Valve Sued for Infringement Violation
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Valve Sued for Infringement Violation - Old meets new is the flavour of a new lawsuit filed by British Telecom (BT) against Valve and a number of features on Steam that BT claim infringe patents it owns. The 111 page document that was obtained by ESPN lays out a number of infringements that BT claim Valve have wilfully continued to make, including chat, broadcasting, messaging and storage features that exist on Steam.
Loto-Quebec Adds eSports Betting - On Friday, Loto-Quebec announced that it had rolled out a new eSports category via its Mise-o-jeu sports betting offering. Loto-Quebec’s online gambling site Espacejeux.com is currently offering 13 different markets on this weekend’s StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) Summer Circuit Championship.
UK Raises Concerns Over eSports Gambling - The Gambling Commission, that Great British authority responsible for regulating lotteries and commercial gambling, has published a discussion paper outlining its concerns about (among other things) unlicensed gambling using virtual game goods with real-money value -- especially on eSports.
South Australian Government Bans Betting On Computer Gaming - It looks as though the South Australian government has placed a ban on betting on eSport events. The announcement comes as Adelaide prepares to host the nation's largest Mario Kart competition at the Adelaide Arena today. "Children are particularly vulnerable to the attraction of gambling on sporting contests conducted on the platform of video games," Mr Rau said. "The Government is determined to keep our children cyber-safe. We do not want them to be introduced to gambling under the guise of a game."
How Online Gaming Became the Wild West of Underage Gambling - Over the last six months there's been a boom in unregulated online casinos letting underage gamers exchange for gambling tokens the items they've won playing video games. The industry worth billions is now coming under scrutiny. One industry observer opined: “It’s not the 20, 30, or 40-year-olds that enjoy the game and are just playing it that are hurting from this, it’s the children. It’s the people who are 13 to 18. There’s no difference in what they’re doing to going to a casino, except it’s illegal for them to go to a casino but they’ve got the means to go online and do this."
CSGO Lounge to Stop Allowing Gambling Where Illegal, Including US - CSGO Lounge has informed visitors it is applying for gambling licences in the countries it operates and, in the meantime, will will limit betting within countries where it does not currently hold the legal right to do so. This affects users in the UK, US, and much of Europe.
Should Trading in Online Gaming be Considered Gambling? - Some elements of popular games including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) have drawn the attention of anti-gambling campaigners. In Australia, independent Senator Nick Xenophon believes such games act as a gateway to serious online gambling problems for children, leading them to spend thousands of dollars on in-game items.
Counter Strike Shooter Games Need to be Defined as Gambling Says Politicians - An Australian politician is seeking to have games such as the Counter-Strike series defined in law as gambling. Nick Xenophon, the independent senator for South Australia, announced a bid to have multiplayer first-person shooter games defined as gambling in an update to the current Interactive Gambling Act of 2001. “This is the Wild West of online gambling that is actually targeting kids,” Xenophon told Fairfax Media.
Scandals, Skins and gambling on Counter-Strike - Some enterprising folks have set up gambling sites that use CSGO weapon skins as currency. Some throw all of these weapon skins into a big pot with the lucky winner taking all (and the site skimming a percentage off the total of course). Other sites allow folks to gamble on the outcome of professional CSGO matches and tournaments. It’s big business. According to Bloomberg, the market for CSGO gambling is worth $2.3 billion. This is where things get murky. Gambling on eSports in this manner is so far unregulated. Many regions restrict gambling to over 18s. Other don’t allow it at all. In addition to allowing minors to gamble, allowing gambling in areas where it’s forbidden and most distressingly - violating Steam's terms of service, there’s another problem - because the games sector never likes to just partially ruin things for itself.
eSports Gambling Becoming a Big Business - It is now impossible to ignore not only the prominence, but also the staying power, of eSports. In the past month, Newzoo published data for eSports viewership on Twitch, which indicates that eSports content makes up 21.3% of all hours spent on the platform. Furthermore, brands are buying in. Bud Light recently announced its first ever eSports program, titled “Bud Light All-Stars,” bringing together top eSports athletes from across North America in an effort to get involved in the growing space. The next frontier, which is already taking shape, is gambling on eSports competition.
E-Sports Gambling: A Market In Its Infancy - “E-Sports is becoming a much more prominent sector of our entertainment society,” said Scott Cooley, employee at Bookmaker.eu in an interview with CGM’s Editor in Chief Brendan Frye. “You find major networks like ESPN televising it now and arenas are selling out in minutes to these big events, it’s a really exciting event to watch. Much like a football or basketball game, the viewers can really get engaged in it and history has told us for thousands of years wherever there are two or more people competing, gambling is a given outcome.”
eSports Conference Planned for LA June 13 - The most important conference and expo covering the esports business will take place on June 13, 2016 at the Sportsmen's Lodge Events Center in Los Angeles.
The one day event precedes the E3 gaming megashow, also in L.A.. The event will cover the business of eSports. It is for eSports owners, operators and executives. Panels with peers and experts in the field will present. Topics covered will include:
Gaming Software Development, eSports Issues, Venture Capital, Team Sponsorships, Tournaments, Manufacturing, (Accessories), Game Structure...and others Go Here For More Info (See Video Below)
How Valve’s Stance on Gambling Ban Could Change the Game – GameZone offers its opinion on how video gaming developer Valve’s decision to ban online gambling could effect players, tournaments, viewer numbers and the item market in the world of eSports.
According to a report by PC Gamer, there was a reactionary drop in cosmetic item prices after Valve’s made their stance on cosmetic item gambling clear. One of the favorite items to bet with, a AWP BOOM (Minimal Wear) price dropped by 13.7% 12 hours after the announcement. However, the item prices have quickly stabilized again. If you look at the item price of a AK-47 | Redline (Minimal Wear), you can see the two drops in price shortly after Valve’s statement and then again when Twitch sided with Valve on the matter.
Valve Serves Notice on 23 Steam Gambling Sites - Following a series of scandals, video game developer Valve has served notice to 23 Steam gambling sites to “immediately cease and desist further use of your Steam accounts for any commercial purpose." There is also a strict deadline imposed. "If you fail to do this within ten (10) days Valve will pursue all available remedies including without limitation terminating your accounts."
