For Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 it won't be possible to trade from loot boxes in the Netherlands. With this, developer Valve is taking measures to comply with a new Dutch law on games and gambling legislation.

Valve announced this yesterday with a message to players who start the games. Because Valve could be fined they had the developer disable the lootbox trading option in games.

"In May we received two letters from the Dutch Gaming Authority, stating that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 contain loot boxes that violate Dutch law," says Valve.

"We hired Dutch lawyers and investigated the law, we still do not understand the judgment and do not agree with it, and we have provided further explanations." In April the Dutch Gaming Authority ruled that several games violated the Dutch gambling rules. It concerns games with so-called loot boxes.

The content of these virtual boxes can be traded afterwards. Loot boxes are virtual treasure chests that can be bought with real money. The buyer does not know what game objects are in here. If it is possible to resell those objects for real money, according to the Gaming Authority it is a game of chance, aka a gambling game. Online gambling is not yet permitted in the Netherlands. This means that such games are illegal. A new law that should make online gambling games possible is in the making. But the proposal has been with the Senate for a long time. From the investigation of the Gaming Authority it appeared that at least four games would be in violation. The watchdog did not announce the names of those games. Valve now recognizes that two of the four games will be issued. According to rumors, another one would be EA's FIFA 19.

Valve takes measures in Netherlands for CS: GO and Dota 2 Lootbox trading