Battlegrounds item trading shut down due to marketplace abuse

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds developer PUBG Corp. has turned off personal item trading for Steam players after some were found to be abusing the system. 

In a short blog post, the studio explained some players have been using Steam's 'personal trade' function -- which is supposed to let people exchange items without any costs attached -- to sell items through third-party sites. 

"This is essentially an abuse of the system," explained the dev. "To prevent this, we're temporarily turning off personal trades while we search for a better solution. Once we figure out a way to prevent abuse, the restriction will be lifted."

Effectively, this means some wily customers have been flogging items on external sites so they can rake in real-world cash, as all money made from sales within the Steam ecosystem must be reinvested on Valve's digital marketplace. 

Third-party websites sprung up to circumvent that restriction, and usually take a cut of the profits in exchange for letting users sell their digital goods for tangible dollars. 

Given skin and other items sales can be worth a fair chunk of cash, it's no surprise to see PUBG Corp. working to close those loopholes.