One of the larger Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting sites, CSGO Lounge, has announced on their Facebook page that players will no longer be able to place bets, and that all betting will be stopped with “immediate effect.”
CSGO Lounge wasn’t the only website to offer such services; in fact there is a whole industry behind betting your CS:GO items. This betting industry has come under fire recently when it came to light that several popular YouTubers were advertising a betting site that they owned without disclosing that information, and again when Valve sent cease and desist orders to betting websites.
“We are going to start sending notices to these sites requesting they cease operations through Steam, and further pursue the matter as necessary,” said Valve’s Erik Johnson, in a statement made in regards of those letters. “Users should probably consider this information as they manage their in-game item inventory and trade activity.”
It should also be mentioned that Valve and CSGO Lounge were named in a lawsuit, along with other sites back in June, by CS:GO player Michael John McLeod. Both companies are named according to the lawsuit because not only did they allow illegal gambling, but also sponsored and supported it. CSGO Lounge is named due to being a website where bets can be placed and Valve is named because players are allowed to connect their Steam accounts to third-party websites.
Yet, it doesn’t seem to be the end for CSGO Lounge as they have stated in the post, “Lounge will continue as an e-Sports entertainment and information platform with new features to be released very soon.” They also stated they are working on items being withdrawn and will have an update about that at a later date.
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