Steam maker Valve is up against a $900 million lawsuit in the UK, accused of "rigging the market" and "excessive" commission prices — it just got the green light
Vicki Shotbolt's lawsuit against Valve claims its Steam business practices are anti-competitive.
Valve — the creator of Steam, the biggest PC gaming storefront in the world — is facing a £656 million (roughly $900 million) class-action lawsuit in the UK. Originally filed in 2024 by digital rights activist Vicki Shotbolt, the case has now been allowed to continue by the Competition Appeal Tribunal per a new ruling.
The claim accuses Valve of "rigging the market and taking advantage of UK gamers" by contractually obligating publishers and developers to not sell their games on other platforms at lower prices than the versions available on Steam. This "forces" them to always give Steam the best deal and limits potential offers to customers, it's argued.
It's also claimed that Steam's versions of games only working with Steam's versions of DLC add-ons and expansions is anti-competitive, as it dissuades players from buying extra content for their games elsewhere and locks them into continuing to buy on Steam.
By "shutting out" PC gaming competition like this, Shotbolt asserts, Valve has been able to charge game studios an "excessive commission" of 30% for every game sold on its platform. The lawsuit argues this has driven costs up for players as developers seek to recoup revenue lost to this commission rate.
Ultimately, Shotbolt says she filed the lawsuit "to stop this unlawful conduct and help people get back what they are owed." Officially, it's a collective action claim that represents 14 million Steam users in the UK that have purchased games and add-ons on the platform since 2018.
The lawsuit suggests that Valve's business practices with Steam are anti-competitive and are "rigging the market," preventing alternatives like the Epic Games Store from succeeding. (Image credit: Windows Central)
Notably, the lawsuit has been backed by Milberg London LLP, a firm that specializes in "defending the rights of victims of corporate wrongdoing," and is currently challenging Apple, PlayStation, and several car manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes in other cases in addition to Valve and Steam.
"Competition law is there to protect consumers and ensure that markets work properly," commented partner Natasha Pearman. "When they don’t work properly and consumers are harmed, collective actions of this kind provide consumers with a voice and a way of holding big companies, like Valve, to account."
Valve isn't just facing litigation in the UK. It's also up against a lawsuit in the US filed by four gamers from states California, Florida and Missouri in August 2024, with its proponents highlighting the same pricing contracts and commission rates. "Valve’s staggering profits have been generated at the expense of consumers who are overcharged when they purchase games and in-game content at inflated prices from Steam," reads the claim.
Steam has enjoyed over 132 million monthly active users since 2021, and generated over $16 billion in revenue in 2025 according to Alinea Analytics market research. That's at least a 5.7% increase over 2024's total revenue, and potentially over 6% since that data was recorded a little under a month before the end of the new year.
Valve has notably begun to ramp up the hardware side of its business in recent years, introducing the Steam Deck in 2022 that jumpstarted a huge handheld gaming PC market. This year, it's also releasing the console-like Steam Machine and a new Steam Controller.
I think Shotbolt will have a hard time arguing against Steam games only being compatible with Steam DLC, as that's a limitation shared by every PC gaming store, and console ecosystems too. Overall, though, we'll just have to wait and see if anything comes of this — and since cases like this take years, we'll likely be waiting for a very long time.
What do you think about the lawsuit against Valve and Steam? Do you think it will go anywhere, or do you think Valve will get out of this one without much trouble? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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