Valve has asked the court to throw out the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit, citing Pokémon cards, Happy Meals, and Labubus, accusing the company of illegal gambling through Counter-Strike weapon skin “cases.” The lawsuit claims these mystery “cases” in Counter-Strike 2 and CS:GO let players, including kids, gamble real money by paying for a chance at rare virtual items In a 42-page filing on May 19, Valve says the “cases” do not count as gambling under New York law because players always get a random weapon skin for the money they pay, just like buying sealed packs of baseball cards, Pokémon cards, or the toy in a cereal box. The company says there is no “stake” or chance of losing money, as it is just the surprise element common in collectibles. Valve warns that the Attorney General’s idea could make normal activities illegal, such as parents buying trading cards for their kids or families playing arcade games. The filing notes that these loot boxes have been sold for over ten years without objection from any other U.S. state. Valve wants the court to dismiss the whole case “with prejudice.” If denied, the lawsuit seeks triple damages on billions of dollars Valve made, plus an order to stop sales to New York residents.

Linux now supports NVIDIA Reflex and AMD Anti-Lag on any graphics card, bringing much better responsiveness to gaming. A new open-source tool called low_latency_layer makes this possible on AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA GPUs. It uses the same signals games already send for Reflex and Anti-Lag, so titles that previously supported only NVIDIA now run smoother on other cards too. It pairs well with Steam Play and Proton, allowing Windows games on Linux to benefit from these low-latency features. Tests in Counter-Strike 2, THE FINALS, Cyberpunk 2077, and Overwatch 2 show reduced input lag, often matching or beating Windows versions. Developed by Nicolas James, the free tool is available on GitHub at