valve is undoubtedly one of the most powerful forces in the gaming world, and has not only made a huge impact on the FPS scene through games like Half Life 2 and doorWe're also revolutionizing PC gaming with Steam. However, while public opinion toward Valve has generally been more positive than other large gaming companies, it has not been without its problems.
Some of these issues are rearing their heads in 2026, as several lawsuits targeting the company have emerged over the past few weeks. Most notable are two high-profile lawsuits against Valve regarding the widespread use of microtransactions in games. Counter-Strike: Global Operations, counter strike 2, team fortress 2and dota 2. Another lawsuit was recently filed against Valve, but the basis is quite different. Here's what we know about these cases so far.
Steam is under investigation by the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation into several games found to contain malware on Steam.
Valve is being sued by New York State
On February 25, 2026, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a complaint accusing Valve of violating state gambling laws with its use of loot boxes. James claims that these loot boxes are “classic gambling.” This is because players have to spend real money to open chests to get rare rewards. Naturally, Valve does not have a license to operate gambling operations in New York.
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The state also argues that the lack of age verification further compounds these risks because it allows underage users to participate in the loot box system. If found liable, Valve could face fines of up to billions of dollars, in addition to having to pay compensation to players.
Valve is generally tight-lipped about these matters, so it seemed like they wouldn't be commenting on this incident for a while. However, on March 11, the company issued a substantive response to the New York Attorney General's Office via Steam, disputing the claims and defending its loot box system. Although the statement contains several rebuttals to specific points raised in the New York lawsuit, the following passage contains the company's most salient points:
“…These types of boxes in our games are widely used not only in video games, but also in the real world where generations have grown up opening baseball card packs, blind boxes and bags to trade and sell the items they receive. On the physical side, popular products used in this way include baseball cards, Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, and Labooboo.”
A US class action lawsuit has been filed against Valve.
On March 9, less than two weeks after New York filed its complaint, Valve was sued by law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of “consumers nationwide.” The class action lawsuit claims that Valve's loot box system was “carefully designed to extract money from consumers, including children, through deceptive casino-style psychological tactics.” This lawsuit essentially makes the same point as the New York lawsuit. Loot boxes are functionally equivalent to slot machine style gambling.
Hagens Berman claims that Valve has made significant profits from this loot box system and is seeking damages in the form of compensation to players who spent money on it. The lawsuit also hopes to completely dismantle Valve's loot box practices and “implement meaningful age verification and consumer protections.”
The Performing Right Society takes Valve to court.
This is the third major lawsuit filed against Valve in recent weeks, not over loot boxes and gambling, but over music distribution rights. The plaintiff in the case is the Performing Right Society, a UK-based copyright group that claims Valve failed to obtain the necessary licenses to distribute its members' music online. This applies to the game itself as well as the soundtrack sold on Steam. Titles such as forza horizon and FIFA It contains music owned by PRS members and properly licensed, but not by Valve itself. According to PRS, Valve is distributing these games, so they should have been distributing them.
PRS claims that it has attempted to negotiate these issues “without proper involvement from Valve for several years” and that “unless Valve Corporation actively participates in the discussions and obtains the necessary licenses to cover use of the PRS repertoire, both retroactively and prospectively, litigation will proceed.” PRS also points out that other outlets, including the Microsoft Store, are using something called a “generic entertainment online license” for this very purpose.
The Performing Rights Society has had a reputation for being litigious in the past, having been involved in a number of controversial lawsuits in the UK. For example, in 2009 the group took legal action against a car shop in Scotland because employees were listening to the radio without being licensed. That same year, PRS attempted to sue a retail employee for singing a licensed song alone without a live performance license, but PRS dismissed the case and publicly apologized to the 56-year-old employee.
