I have been avoiding multiplayer Valve games like Counter-Strike 2 and Team Fortress 2, due to their in-game economies that have created an underage gambling gray market, which Valve has done little about. However, I am on Linux, and the choices for multiplayer shooters are few. Besides, my small boycott is not stopping Counter-Strike 2 from being the most played steam game. Are boycotts really the best solution to stop this epidemic in gaming? How can we best prevent these gambling grey markets and the gaming to gambling addiction pipeline?

  • Yerbouti@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    77·
    15 days ago

    Yes. And you should boycott Steam because they practically invented gambling for underage. Watch the coffee-something video about it.

    Now, 3,2,1 watch all the so-called gamers rip their shirt to defend this evil soulless capitalist business because “they offer a good service and care about gaming blablabla ubisoft bad blablabla”.

      • Yerbouti@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        19·
        15 days ago

        I dont know what Fut is and I don’t really care. Steam is the most profitable business per employee in the US, they shouldn’t get kids addicted to gambling is my point, nor should any other game.

        • ampersandrew@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          15 days ago

          They shouldn’t, but Valve didn’t invent it, and they’re definitely not the most profitable business in the US.

          • Yerbouti@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            13·
            15 days ago

            They have been the most profitable business *per employee" for a long period, and they definitively are in still in the top. They have under 200 employees and generate billions in revenu because of loot boxes and because they take 30% on every games, while many studios have hundred of employees on a single game lol.

            Now I had that conversation dozens of time with gamers and I won’t do it again, but steam fucking sucks. At this point, it’s basically like arguing with a trump voter, nothing anyone can say will make them change their mind.

            https://www.gamesradar.com/internal-valve-study-found-the-house-of-steam-was-making-more-money-per-employee-than-facebook-apple-and-microsoft-over-dollar780000-per-head-a-year/

            • ampersandrew@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              15 days ago

              Most profitable per employee is a different metric, and yes, they may very well be that, but that’s not what you said before. Boycotting all of Steam because some of Valve’s games do the thing they don’t like is a tough sell, rather than just not playing or paying into the offending games. I certainly don’t take issue with them taking a cut of every game sold on Steam, given all that they’ve built with those proceeds.