One of the really interesting things that leapt out at me about Valve's response to New York's lawsuit against it wasn't really about the lawsuit at all, but about comments made by the state about the negative impact of violent videogames—the sort of thing that sounds like it was ripped straight from the headlines of 20 years ago.
New York's lawsuit accuses Valve of violating its gambling laws through loot boxes, which it claims "enable gambling by enticing users to pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value." It further alleges that "Valve has made billions of dollars luring its users, many of whom are teenagers or younger, to engage in gambling in the hopes of winning expensive virtual items that they can cash in on," and says the lawsuit "seeks to permanently stop Valve from continuing to promote illegal gambling in its games and to pay disgorgement and fines."
