CSGO betting sites close in the wake of Valve's crackdown

Several Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting communities have shut down in response to Valve Corporation's threat to issue cease-and-desist orders to those which allow players to earn real money for in-game items. The company announced yesterday that it would soon go after sites that enabled Steam users to gamble their items like casino chips, an activity that's been met with controversy in recent weeks.

Among those shutting down are CSGO Double, which announced that it would close in response to Valve's statement.

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"Effective immediately we will no longer be accepting deposits," the site's owner wrote in a notice. "Those with existing balances are encouraged to withdraw at their earliest convenience."

CSGO Double's roulette will stay open until everyone has cashed out. A similar message has appeared on CSGO Dices, whose staff encourages users to withdraw as soon as possible.

Other sites, like CSGO Rumble, have gone completely dark with little warning. The website's homepage includes a message linking to Valve's post on Steam, while promising users that a new project from its owners, unrelated to Global Offensive, was forthcoming.

CSGO Wealth's website redirects to something even more blunt. The betting site is now a white page with text reading, "Rip CSGOWealth. Blame Valve."

CSGO Lotto, one of the biggest gambling sites, is currently inactive due to a prolonged temporary halt caused by traffic concerns. The shutdown came one day after its owners, a pair of YouTubers who had not disclosed their relationship to the site, were included as part of a lawsuit against several major betting sites, whose plaintiff alleges that the sites and Valve allowed minors to gamble with Global Offensive items illegally.

One of the betting sites named in the suit, OPSkins, responded to Valve's statement with one of its own. The owners took to Reddit to say that it would not be shutting down, refuting claims that it was a gambling community.

"OPSkins is not and never has been a gambling website," the staff said in a post. "Some recent media articles concerning the lawsuit against Valve Corporation alleging underage gambling with CS:GO skins have incorrectly labeled OPSkins as a gambling site."

As such, the owners of OPSkins said, the site is expected to continue running.

"We have received no communication from Valve that OPSkins access to the Steam API will be blocked or limited in any way," according to the owners' post. "Furthermore, based on Valve's recent public statement, we do not anticipate any disruption in our trading services."

We've reached out to Valve about whether it has contacted these or other betting sites directly.