Valve, the American company at the head of the Steam platform, will have to respond to a complaint worth 656 million pounds sterling – or around 900 million dollars – filed before the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. This collective legal action, initiated in 2024 by Vicki Shotbolt, calls into question the group’s pricing and contractual practices with regard to consumers and publishers.
According to the plaintiffs, Valve imposes disadvantageous conditions on Steam, leading to artificially inflated prices for players. “The complaint alleges that Valve charges “excessive commission fees” that result in “an unfair price that is then passed on to consumers.”
Millions of users affected by the complaint
The complaint brings together around 14 million British users, including minors. The average amount of damage would be estimated between 30 and 60 dollars per person. The group led by Shotbolt also denounces the impossibility for publishers to offer their games under more attractive conditions elsewhere than on Steam. “The complaint also alleges that Valve imposes obligations on platforms ‘that prohibit publishers from selling their products through other distribution channels on terms more favorable than those offered on Steam’.”
This commercial foreclosure would severely limit competition. Clearly, Steam would remain essential – at a high price – for users and developers alike.
Valve reacts and rejects the accusations
Valve contests the validity of the appeal. The group relies in particular on the fact that Steam keys – often sold via other channels – are not taken into account in the assessment of the damage. “Without a credible plan for accounting for Steam keys, PCR cannot establish Steam’s true effective commission rate, and without it, PCR cannot establish whether that commission rate constitutes predatory pricing.”
In addition, the company calls into question the lack of clarity on the identification of the truly injured partners. “They also claim that the plaintiff group ‘failed to present a plan to determine which Steam partners actually paid these allegedly unfair prices’.”
A trial that could set a precedent
Despite Valve’s defense, British justice authorized the continuation of the procedure. This trial is part of a series of legal actions against digital giants for abuse of a dominant position.
Apple and Google also face similar complaints over their commission models in their app stores. For Steam, this class action could pave the way for a profound change in the rules for video game distribution.