With the rapid development of the esports industry, a new gray area has gradually emerged, which is — Skin Gambling. This form of gambling uses virtual items in games (usually weapon skins, character outfits, etc.) as bets, attracting a large number of teenagers and young players to participate. Although these items are only decorative in the game, they can be valuable in the real market, making skin gambling a new risk area that bypasses traditional gambling regulations.
What are skins?
"Skins" are originally decorative virtual items in video games that do not affect character attributes or combat power but can change the appearance of characters or weapons. For example, in "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)", there are various colors and rarities of gun skins, and in "Dota 2" and "Valorant", there are also character and skill skins. These skins can be obtained through game drops, purchasing loot boxes, or through market transactions.
Due to the high collectible value of some rare skins among players, their prices can reach thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. Therefore, skins have the attribute of "asset-like", which can be exchanged for cash or other virtual currencies in reality.
How do skins become gambling tools?
Skin gambling mainly operates through third-party websites. These platforms are not directly operated by game developers but are connected to game platforms like Steam through APIs, allowing users to deposit skins into third-party accounts and then use them as betting items in various forms of gambling activities. Common forms include:
Match Betting: Users bet on the outcome of an esports match using skins.
Roulette: Like traditional casinos, users bet on red, black, or numbers with skins.
Case Opening: Users pay a certain amount to buy a "virtual blind box" to see what valuable skins they can get.
Skin Jackpot: Multiple players deposit skins into a pool, and the system randomly selects one person to win all the skins.
These platforms usually allow players to bet with virtual coins, which can be obtained by recharging or converting skins, forming a kind of indirect cash flow mechanism.
The regulatory loopholes and legal risks of skin gambling
Skin gambling was initially overlooked by many countries' gambling laws due to its "virtual item" status. Most regulatory regulations do not include game props in the definition of "gambling chips", causing these gambling platforms to operate in a legal gray area for a long time. This issue is particularly severe in the esports community, where young players dominate.
Some studies have pointed out that skin gambling has a psychological mechanism similar to traditional gambling, which is very likely to induce addiction in minors. For example, gambling regulatory authorities in the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom have warned that skin gambling poses a risk of "providing a gambling entry experience for teenagers". In 2016, the developer of "CS:GO", Valve, faced a class-action lawsuit for allegedly condoning skin gambling and subsequently shut down several related third-party platform APIs.
In some countries, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, game loot box mechanisms have been classified as gambling and are legally restricted. However, most countries have not yet established a specific regulatory system for skin gambling.
The economic interest chain and the black and gray production ecology
Skin gambling involves a complex interest chain:
Skin trading market: Centered around the Steam community market, a huge "virtual item economy" has developed.
Third-party gambling platforms: Profit through advertising, commissions, and bot operations.
Content creators and streamers: Some game streamers drive traffic to these platforms or even directly participate in hyping skin trading, earning promotional commissions.
Money laundering tools: Some black industry elements use the high liquidity and anonymity of virtual skins for money laundering and cross-border fund transfers.
Due to the tradability and anonymity of virtual skins, these platforms also pose significant challenges and concealment issues at the enforcement level.
Conclusion: Where is the boundary between esports and gambling?
Esports, as a form of entertainment, has a large audience of teenagers. The rise of skin gambling has blurred the boundary between "games" and "gambling" to some extent, posing new challenges for regulators and parents.
Game developers, platform operators, government regulatory agencies, and community media all need to work together to clarify the legal attributes of virtual assets, block the entry of gambling gray production, and prevent the entertainment nature of esports from becoming a source of addiction and financial risk for teenagers and families.
Only under a healthy mechanism can the innovative interaction between esports, encrypted assets, and the virtual economy truly release positive values.
