Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 players from the Netherlands logging into Steam today will be met with a message telling them that they are unable to use Steam Marketplace to trade items within the two games. The message, which appears in the Steam client, explains that the change has been carried out to prevent Valve being prosecuted by the Dutch Gaming Authority.

A statement that appears in the client reads that “In May, [Valve] received two letters from the Dutch Kansspelautoriteit, stating that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2 contain ‘loot boxes’ that violate the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act.”

So you might not be able to trade your loot properly anymore (if you're Dutch), but Dota 2 is one of the best free Steam games.

Valve says that in the wake of those letters, they “hired Dutch legal counsel” and looked into the loot box study published by the Authority. However, a threat from the Gaming Authority to prosecute Valve remains in place “if we don’t implement a remedy by June 20.” The communication from the Authority doesn’t outwardly explain what that remedy might be, but Valve point out a particular statement that they’re acting on:

The Dutch Gaming Authority says that “loot boxes contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes are transferable. Loot boxes do not contravene the law if the in-game goods from the loot boxes are not transferable.”