An
article on Bloomberg Law (may require registration or subscription) describes a court victory for Valve in a class
action suit over loot boxes in games, and whether they constitute gambling.
Another Bloomberg Law article (may require registration or subscription) details a victory by Google in a similar
case. The Google ruling was based on US state law and article 230 of the CDA:
"The plaintiff’s claims failed because loot boxes are legal under state law, and
even if they weren’t, the Communications Decency Act shields Google under the
alleged facts, Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California said. Section 230 of the law immunizes internet
platforms from liability for publishing content created by others." As for
Valve, the case seemed to fail due to lack of evidence:
Valve Corp. beat a
proposed class suit by parents alleging it failed to disclose gambling-like
features in games with embedded loot boxes just a week after another federal
court rejected a similar suit against Apple.
Here, a Washington federal court said the plaintiffs can’t support their claims
because they didn’t see the allegedly deceptive materials.