In a shocking turn of events, Valve Corporation, the owner of Steam, the largest digital distribution platform for PC games in the world, is facing a lawsuit for £656m. The lawsuit alleges that Valve has been overcharging 14 million UK gamers by using its market dominance to force game publishers to sign price parity obligations, preventing titles from being sold at cheaper prices on rival platforms.
Digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt, who is spearheading the case, accuses Valve of “rigging the market and taking advantage of UK gamers.” The lawsuit, filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, claims that Valve’s actions have led to UK consumers paying an “excessive commission of up to 30%” for purchasing PC games and add-on content on Steam.
This collective action claim, brought by Ms. Shotbolt on behalf of a larger group of people, aims to hold Valve accountable for breaching UK competition law for at least six years. The goal is to stop Valve’s alleged unlawful conduct and help consumers get back what they are owed.
Steam had a record-breaking year in 2023, generating over $9bn in global revenue from 580m games sold and 14,000 new games released. However, the market is highly concentrated, with the top 10 bestselling games making up 61% of all sales and the top 100 games accounting for 91% of total sales.
The lawsuit is supported by legal firm Milberg London LLP, which specializes in bringing group action cases against large companies. Partner Natasha Pearman emphasizes that competition law exists to protect consumers and ensure that markets function properly, and collective actions like this provide consumers with a voice to hold big companies like Valve accountable.
This lawsuit against Valve is the latest in a series of collective action legal cases against big tech companies, including Facebook, Google, and Sony. It remains to be seen how Valve will respond to these serious allegations and what the outcome of the lawsuit will be.
