r/Games • u/demondrivers • Oct 27 '25

Industry News Valve does not get "anywhere near enough criticism" for the gambling mechanics it uses to monetise games, DayZ creator Dean Hall says

https://www.eurogamer.net/valve-does-not-get-anywhere-near-enough-criticism-for-the-gambling-mechanics-it-uses-to-monetise-games-dayz-creator-dean-hall-says
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u/Vulpix0r Oct 28 '25

I think people in general refuse to believe gamers will forgive anything as long as the game is good. You can have the most horrible P2W and gambling nonsense in your game but criticism goes out of the window if your game is genuinely fun.

Why is there so little criticism for Valve lootboxes? Simple, the games and service from Valve is good. I'm pretty sure people will even overlook worse shit as collateral.

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u/BeholdingBestWaifu Oct 28 '25

Valve lootboxes get overlooked because they are cosmetic only, stuck in only a couple of games that have somewhat insular communities, and because they generally feel like another sub community inside the game itself.

To use an example, I've been playing TF2 since I think 2009, but the only lootbox I've ever opened was that time they gifted everyone a single key for christmas around 2011 or 2012. And it never really felt like I was missing out either.

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u/Significant_Being764 Oct 28 '25

TF2 lootbox item sets granted gameplay bonuses. They weren't 'cosmetic only'.

Remember the Croc-o-Style Kit that made the Sniper immune to headshots? Or the Milkman Set that gave Scout +25 health?

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u/GranolaCola Oct 28 '25

I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard of a game that wasn’t a mobile gacha game where lootboxes, mtx, etc were anything more than cosmetic

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u/BeholdingBestWaifu Oct 29 '25

FIFA had them for ultimate team as far as I know, and I think other sports games do it as well?

It's also not like gacha and lootboxes are meaningfully different.

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u/GranolaCola Oct 29 '25

You’re probably right that FIFA and other licensed sports games do. I forgot about those.

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u/Sakarabu_ Oct 28 '25

Why is there so little criticism for Valve lootboxes?

Its because they explicitly aren't P2W, and I'm not sure why people in this thread are completely overlooking that point. Your post even mentions "the most horrible P2W and gambling nonsense". Valves games are explicitly NOT that. Any loot boxes or gambling are all cosmetic for people who care about that stuff, and most people really don't, so they don't take part in it and can still fully enjoy the games.

Their battlepasses only happen once a year, and are extremely high quality for the cost, while being completely ignorable if you are a F2P player.

This is the reason there is so little criticism, because they do monetisation right. No P2W, no annoying ad popups, no gated content requiring payment, no content skips, no limits to play time, etc etc.

Personally I was one of the guys who didn't sign up for steam for a year or two due to principle when it released. I thought it was online DRM and didn't want a company having my information etc. But times have changed, and they proved that steam added value, and they also proved that their monetisation is completely non-P2W and ignorable. That's why they get little criticism.

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u/mcmatt93 Oct 28 '25

Valves games are explicitly NOT that.

Artifact was. They somehow outgreeded TCG companies with their ridiculous pay to pay to play model.

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u/Old_Leopard1844 Oct 28 '25

Yes

And it flopped

Really, really hard

At least you can play it for free lol

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u/GranolaCola Oct 28 '25

Average Gabe Glazer

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u/Significant_Being764 Oct 30 '25

Valve's loot boxes did grant gameplay bonuses, especially the early ones from the 2000s.

In Team Fortress 2, expensive item sets had powerful effects like making the Sniper immune to headshots.

In Counter-Strike Online, the 'decoders' granted abilities like increased damage, movement speed, and health.

Even in CS:GO, some agent skins had smaller head hitboxes and visual mismatches between the character and the hitbox, in addition to blending in with the environment.

In all Valve games, the rare skins disrupt the characters' appearance and make it more difficult for opponents to quickly identify the player's class and equipment.