The suit specifically targets Valve's system for enabling users to resell won items through the Steam Community Market or third-party marketplaces. While most loot box items are worth pennies, the rarest skins can sell for thousands of dollars, fitting the statutory definition of gambling as "charging an individual for a chance to win something of value based on luck alone."

Steam Wallet funds have "the equivalent purchasing power on the Steam platform as cash," the suit argues. An investigator demonstrated that users can convert Steam funds to real money by purchasing and reselling physical products like the Steam Deck.

This is the most significant US legal challenge to video game loot boxes to date. While several countries including Belgium and the Netherlands have restricted or banned loot boxes, US regulation has been limited to state-level proposals that largely failed to pass.

Valve has not yet responded to the lawsuit. The company has historically resisted changes to its loot box systems, arguing they constitute entertainment rather than gambling.