Valve sued for $838 million over alleged price restrictions

People TO DO as has to try has pursue Valve, most often alleging that Steam has some sort of monopoly on the PC gaming market. This is probably because Steam may well have something of a monopoly on the PC gaming market. The latest attempt to break the Washington-based developer's grip comes from a small island that rarely succeeds, the United Kingdom, where a lawsuit claims the company overcharged 14 million British customers.

The road to this alleged overcharging is somewhat complicated. The complaint, suing Valve for £656 million ($838 million), filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, is based on an accusation that Steam requires publishers to accept “obligations of price parity. That is, they apparently can't offer the same games on another store at a lower price.

“Companies that hold a dominant position in a market are not permitted to charge excessive or anti-competitive prices,” the plaintiffs assert. “They also cannot impose other unfair trading conditions that prevent or hinder competition from others. » The specific accusation reads:

Valve Corporation (is accused) of foreclosing competition in the PC gaming market by forcing game publishers to subscribe to pricing restrictions that dictate the lowest price at which games can be sold on competing platforms.

This is orchestrated by a Vicki Shotbolt, via the British equivalent of a class action called an “opt-out class action”. Shotbolt, an activist for children's digital rights, files suit through law firm Milberg London, whose lawyer Natasha Pearman explains: “We believe that Valve used its market power in a way that was detrimental to consumers and led to consumers being charged excessive prices for games and game content on the platform Steam. » (We have contacted Valve for comment.)

The case has a stylish website where Brits can sign up for more information. However, oddly, since this is an “unsubscribe” request, if you are in the UK and have purchased something on Steam since June 2018 and don't do it If you want to be part of the deal, if it is certified, you will need to visit the site to unsubscribe! The law is weird.

The site goes on to suggest that Valve's market dominance and “price restrictions” also allow it to “continue to charge an excessive commission” for selling games on Steam. This is usually a whopping 30 percent, although for some obscure reason the company only lowers this figure for the biggest publishers.

Such claims actually appear to be bouncing back at Valve, with courts rejecting suggestions that the only realistic store option for releasing PC games to a wide audience doesn't present unfair advantages. We'll keep an eye on this one.

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