In a statement today via Twitter, skin gambling site CSGOWild offered some additional context regarding the site’s decision to block play from the United States.
Decision made unilaterally
In the immediate aftermath of Wild’s exit from the United States, some speculated that the decision was the result of pressure from Valve or from U.S. authorities.
That speculation was driven largely by the timing of Wild’s decision. Only a few days before Wild exited the U.S. market, a civil suit targeting Valve over alleged facilitation of skin gambling was filed in Connecticut.
Wild addressed that speculation in their statement:
1/ To be clear — our block has nothing to do with any issues with the US or Valve directly.
— CSGOWild (@Wild) July 1, 2016
2/ We did this on our own accord based on how we feel about the regulatory landscape with skins and the CS:GO community going forward.
— CSGOWild (@Wild) July 1, 2016
New product for US market in the pipeline
The statement also indicated the Wild had plans to return to the U.S. market in the immediate future with an “alternative” product.
4/ We’ll have an alternative out for the US on our site very soon.
— CSGOWild (@Wild) July 1, 2016
While the statement offered no additional specifics on the nature of the product, it seems reasonable to assume that the revised product would diverge from the main CSGOWild product in one or more of the following ways:
- Requiring some sort of age verification
- Removing the need to deposit skins in order to play
- Removing the ability to cash out from the site
The first change would help counter one of the most common criticisms leveled against skin betting sites, while the second and third would provide some additional buffer against accusations that skin gambling sites constitute illegal gambling.
Where skin gambling goes from here
Wild’s statement also contained something of a call to action for other skin gambling sites:
3/ We hope that other gaming websites serving skins will follow suit and re-evaluate where they stand regarding local laws and regulations.
— CSGOWild (@Wild) July 1, 2016
It’s unclear exactly what Wild would expect the outcome of that re-evaluation would be, or what would motivate other skin gambling sites to follow suit.
The skin gambling industry is currently unregulated and largely ad hoc. There is no central organization or trade group that could promulgate or enforce standards for skin gambling sites, and the relatively low overhead involved in launching a site would pose a significant challenge to the formation and operation of any such group.
