Valve Faces $836M Lawsuit, Accused Of 'Rigging The Market,' Overcharging 14M UK Gamers

Steam, the popular digital distribution platform owned by Valve Corporation, faces a 656 million pounds (@836,990,400 U.S. dollars) collective action claim in the U.K.

The claim, filed on June 5 at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, was initiated by Vicki Shotbolt, a digital rights campaigner. Shotbolt alleged Valve used its dominant market position to overcharge 14 million U.K. consumers.

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“Valve is rigging the market and taking advantage of U.K. gamers,” Shotbolt stated in an interview with BBC News.

Furthermore, she assured the purpose of the claim is “to stop this unlawful conduct and have people get back what they are owed.”

The claim accused Valve of several anti-competitive practices. Valve allegedly “forced” publishers to adhere to specific pricing restrictions and imposed commissions up to 30% on publishers.

A statement on the website supporting the claim reads: “We believe that Valve has been unfairly shutting out competition for PC games and in-game content, which has meant that U.K. customers have paid too much for these products.”

Shotbolt’s legal representation, Milberg London LLP, has a history of handling similar cases. The firm previously represented consumer rights expert Alex Neill in a 2022 claim against Sony Group Corp. (NYSE:SONY), which accused the company of overcharging players, developers and publishers.

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