Valve Bans Skin Gambling Ads under New Tournament Rules
Valve has updated its tournament regulations by releasing a blanket prohibition on the advertising or sponsoring of skin gambling, case opening, and trading websites. The new rules, which require a "Limited Game Tournament License" on Steam, bring in a significant crack on third-party economies that have long surrounded games like Counter-Strike.
What Is Now Prohibited in Tournaments
The new license forbids tournament organizers from associating with sponsors or even from displaying content related to the in-game item economy in several crucial lines.
- Skin Gambling and Trading Websites: There is a complete ban on advertising websites that violate the Steam Subscriber Agreement. This directly targets skin roulettes, case opening sites, and skin trading platforms.
- No Logos on Broadcasts or Jerseys: Symbols, banners, and logos of these prohibited sites are not allowed to appear on broadcasts, team materials, or the jerseys of competing players.
- Sponsor Restrictions: Organizers are prohibited from accepting support from sponsors that generate revenue from activities violating Valve's terms. This includes companies that specialize in reselling license keys or interacting with user inventories.
Additional Key Changes in the Tournament License
Beyond incorporating the generic prohibition on skin sites, there are many more other regulations that are now formalized:
- Licensed Betting Only: Certainly, betting industry sponsorship will only be allowed if the operator is actually licensed in the jurisdictions the tournament targets.
- No "Official" Status: Tournament organizers are not allowed to have names like "official" or "authorized" that imply endorsement by or direct affiliation with Valve.
- No IP Crossovers: The rules preclude the combination of third-party intellectual property with Valve's IP, for example by including a sponsor's mascot in-game or dressing game characters in sponsor symbols.
Context of the Crackdown
This is in line with the last major update to Counter Strike 2 in October, which changed the economy of the game, lessened controls on how rare things were gotten, and affected their market prices. Opinions about that were varied in the community, with some even arguing that Valve should have done something about the longstanding issues of the skin market. Now, these new, strict tournament rules are perhaps Valve's most direct action yet to control and regulate the commercial ecosystem around its games.
