Valve is being sued in the UK for £656 million ($843 million) for using Steam's dominance in the PC gaming market to eliminate competition and overcharge for games.

The lawsuit, filed by law firm Milberg London (via BBC) on behalf of children's digital rights campaigner Vicky Schottbold, accuses Valve of "overcharging 14 million PC gamers and abusing its dominant position in the UK."

"A company with a dominant market position cannot be allowed to charge excessive or anti-competitive prices," Milberg said on steamyouoweus.co.uk, a website dedicated to the case. And "you also may not impose unfair terms of trade that prevent or impede competition from others.

"We believe that Valve Corporation is unfairly crowding out competition in PC games and in-game content, and that as a result, UK customers are paying too much for these products."

The lawsuit also claims that Steam's dominance allows Valve to continue to charge game publishers "excessive fees of up to 30%," resulting in "inflated prices for consumers."

The lawsuit raises three points of contention: that Valve imposes a price equivalency clause on developers that prevents them from offering lower prices on other platforms; that all add-on content for games purchased on Steam must also must also be purchased on Steam, a practice known as tying-up.

Valve has faced multiple Steam-related legal actions in the past: in 2018, for example, it was fined $2.4 million in Australia for Steam's lack of a refund policy before 2015; in 2023, it was fined $2.4 million for "geo-blocking" games, meaning that some regions, was fined $1.73 million for preventing game keys purchased in one region from being activated in another region (originally fined in 2021). That's a lot of money, but in relative terms it's also a sparrow's throw: a 2023 VG Insights report estimates Steam's 2023 revenue at over $9 billion.

Valve has changed its policy on these points, but scrutiny of revenue reduction continues: in November 2023, Valve boss Gabe Newell was ordered to testify in person in an antitrust lawsuit similar to the one Shotbolt filed in the UK: in 2021 The suit, filed by Wolfire Games, alleges that Valve uses Steam to stifle competition in the PC game market and "collects extraordinarily high fees from nearly every sale that passes through its store." Another lawsuit targeting the "MFN" clause in the Steam distribution agreement, which allegedly prevents game developers from offering lower prices on other platforms, was also filed in 2021.

Valve's collection of 30% from Steam sales is unpopular with developers, especially in light of the fact that other digital storefronts, including the Epic Games Store and Microsoft Store, collect only 12%. But the company has repeatedly defended its share, refusing to budge, except in 2018 when it adjusted its revenue sharing based on sales and lowered its share to 20%. That relentless stubbornness has led Valve into a protracted battle with Epic and Apple, and even led Epic boss Tim Sweeney to call everyone at Valve a "son of a bitch."

This latest lawsuit against Valve is being filed as a "class action," which is functionally similar to a class action. That is, one person (in this case Shotbolt) represents a class (in this case, approximately 14 million Steam users in the UK allegedly affected by Valve's actions). The claim would have to be approved by the UK Competition Appeal Court before proceeding to trial, which has not yet happened and could be stayed before the trial can properly proceed.

However, a similar lawsuit filed by Milberg against Sony in 2022 alleged that the company imposed "unfair trading terms" on PlayStation game developers and publishers, resulting in "excessive and unfair prices" in the PlayStation store. ."

The case was allowed to proceed to trial in November 2023 on the grounds that the company was "imposing unfair terms of trade" on PlayStation game developers and publishers, resulting in "excessive and unfair prices" in the PlayStation store.