Valve faces $843 million lawsuit in UK over alleged market monopoly and consumer exploitation –

Prominent American games developer and Steam parent company Valve is currently embroiled in a £656 million lawsuit in the UK. Vicki Shotbolt, a leading advocate for children's digital rights, is leading the case alongside Milberg London, accusing Valve of market manipulation and exploitation of British gamers.

Shotbolt says the video game distributor is trying to monopolize the PC gaming market by “forcing” game publishers to commit to price parity obligations, which prevents them from offering lower prices for their titles on competing platforms.

Shotbolt's claims are backed up by other points, including the hefty 30% commission Steam charges for developers' game sales on the platform and if a user buys a game on Steam, they must exclusively purchase future ones. game add-ons. via Steam.

These claims are backed up by a dedicated website called “Steam You Owe Us”, which invokes UK law prohibiting dominant market players from setting unfair prices or imposing anti-competitive conditions. According to the site, Valve's practices allegedly overcharged around 14 million UK-based PC gamers by £22 to £44 per purchase.

In 2022, Sony-owned gaming powerhouse PlayStation was sued in a similar case, claiming that gamers were being charged “excessive and unfair prices on the PlayStation Store” due to “unfair terms and conditions” for developers and game publishers. Valve was sued in 2021 by an independent game studio, Wolffire Games, who accused it of stifling competition.

Valve is the largest distributor and developer of PC games which has created several beloved games such as Portal, Half-life, Counter-Strike 2, and the cult classic Team Fortress 2. Valve is also a major player in the VR gaming industry with Steam VR games such as the critically acclaimed Game. Half-life: Alyx and other third party titles such as Elder Scrolls Skyrim VR And No Man's Sky VR.

Despite its innovative contributions, the company's legal challenges highlight growing concerns about market dominance and consumer fairness in the digital gaming industry.