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A Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player is suing Valve for allowing players access to an "illegal online gambling market," and supporting the ways in which they're run.

In the suit filed by Michael John McLeod, it is claimed that: "... [Valve] knowingly allowed ... and has been complicit in creating, sustaining and facilitating [a] market." In this "market" it is alleged that players are using weapons and skins they acquire in-game as casino chips as a means of gambling with real money.

The lawsuit outlines that Valve and third-party sites - such as CSGO Diamonds, CSGO Lounge, and OPSkins - "knowingly allowed, supported, and/or sponsored illegal gambling by allowing millions of Americans to link their individual Steam accounts to third-party websites."

These skins can be purchased from Valve and then sold on, the sites take advantage of this and use them for gambling. Players are betting on pro-level CS:GO matches. Valve is, allegedly, profiting from this.

A big part of McLeod's suit is his claim that none of the third-party sites requires age verification, meaning that minors can easily get on and gamble with zero restrictions. He cites a report from Bloomberg from earlier this year about teenagers gambling on Counter-Strike skins, reportedly part of a $2 billion business.

In this Bloomberg writes: "Because there's a liquid market to convert each gun or knife back into cash, laying a bet in skins is essentially the same as betting with real money."

The suit (which you can read in full over on Polygon) alleges that: "Valve owns the league, sells the casino chips, and receives a piece of the casino's income stream through foreign websites in order to maintain the charade that Valve is not promoting and profiting from online gambling."

Players can easily get hold of skins from in-game timed drops, by opening weapon cases, or through in-game trading. These pickups can then be sold on the Steam Marketplace, making them accessible to all and giving them monetary value.

McLeod has said that he used to gamble with skins and lost a lot of money, both as a minor and an adult. Valve is yet to respond.