Valve is under fire from all angles following the new Counter-Strike 2 update, which left the community in shambles over skin prices and the entirety of Steam's marketplace crashing, as even developers speak up against its reliance on gambling in video games.
Speaking in a recent interview with Eurogamer, DayZ creator Dean Hall comments on the use of gambling-related monetization in games – specifically on Valve's part. "It's something I think Valve does not get anywhere near enough criticism about," admits Hall.
He's not all that wrong… mere days ago, a Counter-Strike 2 patch altering the value of its virtual glove and knife skins caused absolute havoc in the $6 billion market.
A whopping $3 billion or so was lost to the changes, causing fans who had invested money over time in the market and those who thought they struck gold with previously valuable skins to panic – understandably so.
This all came as a result of the gambling system Valve is now infamous for with Counter-Strike 2, and Hall isn't a fan. "I'm honestly disgusted with gambling mechanics in video games at all – they have absolutely no place."
-3.0 billion in 38 hours https://t.co/sODcSde4zl pic.twitter.com/wgq5ccnWfXOctober 24, 2025
His sentiment here certainly makes sense. He continues, posing a "challenge" of sorts to companies like Valve: "My challenge to game developers is that if they think these things are not a problem, they make the data available to universities that are crying out to study this stuff."
It would definitely be interesting to see. A whopping 12 years have passed since Valve introduced weapon skin cases in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's "Arms Deal" update.
Following the introduction of said cases, it only took a year or so for third-party sites to host players' sales of skins for real-life money rather than Steam currency – an issue that has only grown tenfold since 2013. With gloves, guns, and knives that can fetch thousands of dollars, it's hard to think there's any alternative at this point, but I'll personally be keeping my fingers crossed for a miraculous change in Valve's direction there.
