Valve Might Have to Pay $900 Million in Lawsuit over PC Monopoly
The case claims Valve pushes players to buy more games on Steam.
Valve
With big antitrust lawsuits against Google and Apple, it's easy to miss other companies that dominate their fields less obviously. When it comes to PC gaming, Steam is definitely the leading platform, but can Valve be considered a monopolist?
It can, according to digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt, who filed a lawsuit against the company in 2024 on behalf of the 14 million Steam users from the UK who made purchases through Steam since 2018, which has recently been greenlit by a UK tribunal, as reported by the BBC. The collective action lawsuit might cost Valve £656 million ($901 million) if it doesn't settle or prove its innocence.
The lawsuit claims that Valve imposes Platform Parity Obligations that "prohibit publishers from selling Products through other distribution channels on better terms than the same Products are available on Steam," which harms competition.
Moreover, it forces players to stay on the platform by making them buy add-ons for games using the Steam interface. According to the accusations, Valve also imposes excessive commission charges up to 30%, "which amount to an unfair price which is then passed on to consumers."
Valve tried to fight the claims, but for now, the tribunal decided to let the battle continue.
This is not the first time the company has been accused of anti-competitive behavior: Wolfire and Dark Catt's lawsuit from 2021 became a class action in 2024, so the case applies to any developer who has sold their games on Steam since 2017.
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