For years now, Valve fans have been making jokes about the company's slow transition from game maker to glorified digital hat and knife paint marketplace . This week, though, a lawsuit brought by the state of New York argues that Valve's in-game loot box sales amount to an illegal gambling outfit worth tens of billions of dollars.

Lawyers who have looked into the particulars of the case tell Ars that the state faces an uphill battle in convincing courts that this portion of Valve's business legally constitutes gambling. That said, there are a few elements of the case that might make Valve legally vulnerable to the state's arguments.

What is gambling, anyway?

For a game to legally be counted as "gambling" in most jurisdictions, it has to pass a three-part test: a player has to pay money (1) for an outcome that's materially determined by chance (2) in the hopes of receiving something of value (3). While buying a key to a loot box in a Valve game easily passes those first two tests, New York's legal case will likely hinge on whether the random cosmetic items players get from those loot boxes constitute "something of value" for statutory purposes.

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For years now, Valve fans have been making jokes about the company's slow transition from game maker to glorified digital hat and knife paint marketplace . This week, though, a lawsuit brought by the state of New York argues that Valve's in-game loot box sales amount to an illegal gambling outfit worth tens of billions of dollars.

Lawyers who have looked into the particulars of the case tell Ars that the state faces an uphill battle in convincing courts that this portion of Valve's business legally constitutes gambling. That said, there are a few elements of the case that might make Valve legally vulnerable to the state's arguments.

What is gambling, anyway?

For a game to legally be counted as "gambling" in most jurisdictions, it has to pass a three-part test: a player has to pay money (1) for an outcome that's materially determined by chance (2) in the hopes of receiving something of value (3). While buying a key to a loot box in a Valve game easily passes those first two tests, New York's legal case will likely hinge on whether the random cosmetic items players get from those loot boxes constitute "something of value" for statutory purposes.

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For years now, Valve fans have been making jokes about the company's slow transition from game maker to glorified digital hat and knife paint marketplace . This week, though, a lawsuit brought by the state of New York argues that Valve's in-game loot box sales amount to an illegal gambling outfit worth tens of billions of dollars.

Lawyers who have looked into the particulars of the case tell Ars that the state faces an uphill battle in convincing courts that this portion of Valve's business legally constitutes gambling. That said, there are a few elements of the case that might make Valve legally vulnerable to the state's arguments.

What is gambling, anyway?

For a game to legally be counted as "gambling" in most jurisdictions, it has to pass a three-part test: a player has to pay money (1) for an outcome that's materially determined by chance (2) in the hopes of receiving something of value (3). While buying a key to a loot box in a Valve game easily passes those first two tests, New York's legal case will likely hinge on whether the random cosmetic items players get from those loot boxes constitute "something of value" for statutory purposes.

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The world's largest automaker has had a somewhat difficult relationship with battery-electric vehicles. Toyota was an early pioneer of hybrid powertrains, and it remains a fan today, often saying that given limited battery supply, it makes sense to build more hybrids than fewer EVs. Its first full BEV had a rocky start, suffering a recall due to improperly attached wheels just as the cars were hitting showrooms. Reviews for the awkwardly named bZ4x were mixed ; the car did little to stand out among the competition.

Toyota didn't get to be the world's largest automaker by being completely blind to feedback, and last year, it gave its EV platform (called -TNGA and shared with Lexus and Subaru) a bit of a spiff-up. To start, it simplified the name—the small electric SUV is now just called the bZ. It uses a new 74.7 kWh battery pack, available with either front- or all-wheel drive powertrains that now use silicon carbide power electronics. And for the North American market, instead of a CCS1 port just behind the front passenger wheel, you'll now see a Tesla-style NACS socket.

Our test bZ was the $37,900 XLE FWD Plus, which has the most range of any bZ at 314 miles (505 km) according to the EPA test cycle. When you realize that the pre-facelift version managed just 252 miles (405 km) with 71.4 kWh onboard, the scale of the improvement becomes clear.

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The world's largest automaker has had a somewhat difficult relationship with battery-electric vehicles. Toyota was an early pioneer of hybrid powertrains, and it remains a fan today, often saying that given limited battery supply, it makes sense to build more hybrids than fewer EVs. Its first full BEV had a rocky start, suffering a recall due to improperly attached wheels just as the cars were hitting showrooms. Reviews for the awkwardly named bZ4x were mixed ; the car did little to stand out among the competition.

Toyota didn't get to be the world's largest automaker by being completely blind to feedback, and last year, it gave its EV platform (called -TNGA and shared with Lexus and Subaru) a bit of a spiff-up. To start, it simplified the name—the small electric SUV is now just called the bZ. It uses a new 74.7 kWh battery pack, available with either front- or all-wheel drive powertrains that now use silicon carbide power electronics. And for the North American market, instead of a CCS1 port just behind the front passenger wheel, you'll now see a Tesla-style NACS socket.

Our test bZ was the $37,900 XLE FWD Plus, which has the most range of any bZ at 314 miles (505 km) according to the EPA test cycle. When you realize that the pre-facelift version managed just 252 miles (405 km) with 71.4 kWh onboard, the scale of the improvement becomes clear.

Read full article

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The world's largest automaker has had a somewhat difficult relationship with battery-electric vehicles. Toyota was an early pioneer of hybrid powertrains, and it remains a fan today, often saying that given limited battery supply, it makes sense to build more hybrids than fewer EVs. Its first full BEV had a rocky start, suffering a recall due to improperly attached wheels just as the cars were hitting showrooms. Reviews for the awkwardly named bZ4x were mixed ; the car did little to stand out among the competition.

Toyota didn't get to be the world's largest automaker by being completely blind to feedback, and last year, it gave its EV platform (called -TNGA and shared with Lexus and Subaru) a bit of a spiff-up. To start, it simplified the name—the small electric SUV is now just called the bZ. It uses a new 74.7 kWh battery pack, available with either front- or all-wheel drive powertrains that now use silicon carbide power electronics. And for the North American market, instead of a CCS1 port just behind the front passenger wheel, you'll now see a Tesla-style NACS socket.

Our test bZ was the $37,900 XLE FWD Plus, which has the most range of any bZ at 314 miles (505 km) according to the EPA test cycle. When you realize that the pre-facelift version managed just 252 miles (405 km) with 71.4 kWh onboard, the scale of the improvement becomes clear.

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Netflix backed out of its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD’s) streaming and movie studios businesses on Thursday night. After increasing its bid for all of WBD by $1 per share on Tuesday, Paramount Skydance is poised to become the new owner of WBD, including Game of Thrones, DC Comics, and other IP, as well as the HBO Max streaming service and cable channels CNN and TBS.

Netflix and WBD announced merger intentions on December 5. Netflix was going to pay an equity value of $72 billion, or an approximate total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, for part of WBD. At the time, NBC News reported that WBD’s total market value was $60 billion.

But Paramount has reportedly been eyeing WBD for years and followed December's merger announcement with an aggressive hostile takeover bid. On Tuesday, in addition to raising its offer to buy all of WBD, Paramount also agreed to pay a $7 billion regulatory termination fee should a Paramount-WBD merger fail to close due to antitrust regulation, as well as a $0.25 per share ticking fee for every quarter that the deal doesn’t close, starting on September 30.

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Netflix backed out of its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD’s) streaming and movie studios businesses on Thursday night. After increasing its bid for all of WBD by $1 per share on Tuesday, Paramount Skydance is poised to become the new owner of WBD, including Game of Thrones, DC Comics, and other IP, as well as the HBO Max streaming service and cable channels CNN and TBS.

Netflix and WBD announced merger intentions on December 5. Netflix was going to pay an equity value of $72 billion, or an approximate total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, for part of WBD. At the time, NBC News reported that WBD’s total market value was $60 billion.

But Paramount has reportedly been eyeing WBD for years and followed December's merger announcement with an aggressive hostile takeover bid. On Tuesday, in addition to raising its offer to buy all of WBD, Paramount also agreed to pay a $7 billion regulatory termination fee should a Paramount-WBD merger fail to close due to antitrust regulation, as well as a $0.25 per share ticking fee for every quarter that the deal doesn’t close, starting on September 30.

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Netflix backed out of its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD’s) streaming and movie studios businesses on Thursday night. After increasing its bid for all of WBD by $1 per share on Tuesday, Paramount Skydance is poised to become the new owner of WBD, including Game of Thrones, DC Comics, and other IP, as well as the HBO Max streaming service and cable channels CNN and TBS.

Netflix and WBD announced merger intentions on December 5. Netflix was going to pay an equity value of $72 billion, or an approximate total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, for part of WBD. At the time, NBC News reported that WBD’s total market value was $60 billion.

But Paramount has reportedly been eyeing WBD for years and followed December's merger announcement with an aggressive hostile takeover bid. On Tuesday, in addition to raising its offer to buy all of WBD, Paramount also agreed to pay a $7 billion regulatory termination fee should a Paramount-WBD merger fail to close due to antitrust regulation, as well as a $0.25 per share ticking fee for every quarter that the deal doesn’t close, starting on September 30.

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