Valve has found itself up against some real legal pressure in recent times, with class action lawsuits filed in the US and UK alleging that Steam has been leveraging its market monopoly to beat down pricing competition, while taking excessive cuts from sales. Now, Dutch non-profit group Consumer Competition Claims (CCC) is joining in, suggesting that gamers in the Netherlands have collectively overpaid by “more than €220 million” ($255 million) due to Valve’s practices.
“Valve restricts competition and abuses its dominant position in the market for PC game distribution, causing consumers to structurally overpay,” the CCC claims. “We want to put a stop to that. Valve has to stop abusing its dominant position, and consumers should be compensated for the damages they’ve suffered.” Should the lawsuit, which is currently in its fledgling stages, succeed, then the CCC estimates Dutch gamers could be compensated more than €130 ($150) each.
The CCC’s allegations follow the same litigative line as the ongoing legal battles in the US and UK – namely that Valve is utilizing its dominant market position (it holds a 75% share in the US, for example) to push developers and publishers into ‘Platform Parity Obligations,’ which prevent games being distributed more cheaply outside of Steam. As a result of this, Valve is able to leverage its meaty 30% sales commission. While competitors Epic Games and Microsoft only charge a 12% fee, Valve’s supposed strong-arming ensures that 18% saving elsewhere doesn’t get reflected in the game’s pricing.
Last week, testimony given by Gabe Newell in the US case from 2023 emerged, with the Valve President refuting claims that the firm has a policy on dictating pricing. However, there are firmly-weighted allegations that it’s still happening. Wolfire Games’ David Rosen, the progenitor of the class action suit in the US, claims he was told his game, Overgrowth, would be kicked off Steam if it was sold for a reduced price elsewhere.
Additionally, emails from Ubisoft and Warner Bros., uncovered by Bloomberg, that have been filed as part of the lawsuit, indicate that even the big dogs have been brought to heel by Valve. In the case of Ubisoft, Valve employees ostensibly threatened to delist Rainbow Six Siege from Steam, after it caught wind that the publisher had started pushing a $15 “starter pack” on its Uplay store.
Warner Bros., meanwhile, found itself in hot water with Kassidy Gerber from Valve’s business development team. Gerber wrote to Warner Bros. stating that, because pricing for pre-orders for Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Steam was “significantly higher than what was available at other retailers for the same version of the game,” Valve deleted them. This apparently prompted a swift phone call from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment President David Haddad to try and smooth things over.
While, yes, devs and publishers can always avoid selling on Steam altogether to bypass its fees, its overwhelming market share effectively offers the illusion of choice. Disregarding the 75%, whether you’re triple-A or indie, is practically killing your game’s chance to flourish on PC before it even goes on sale. While it’s not a full-blown monopoly in the same vein as something like Google, Steam’s position of power is undeniable.
The ongoing litigation, now in three different countries, certainly leaves PC gamers in a weird spot. Valve has spent years establishing Steam as the destination storefront and social hub for players, and it holds a near-mythical status in the eyes of many. The case in the Netherlands has a long way to go before it potentially reaches trial, and I can’t see Valve ever settling, so expect a long, drawn-out process. However, should the courts deem the firm’s practices unruly, then it’ll represent a major breach of trust. If it’s found that Valve has been preventing you from getting a better deal elsewhere, then that’s a major blow to its reputability.
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