Valve will face a £656 million, or roughly $898 million, lawsuit in the United Kingdom after a London court ruled that a case filed in 2024 can move forward. The lawsuit focuses on the Steam storefront, accusing Valve of using its market dominance to enforce unfair pricing rules and excessive commissions. Critics say those rules limit competition, keep players tied to Steam’s ecosystem, and inflate prices through its 30% cut.
According to the BBC, the lawsuit was brought by digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt on behalf of up to 14 million UK gamers. Her legal team claims Valve forces publishers to accept terms that stop them from selling games cheaper — or even earlier — on rival platforms. During a hearing in October, they argue this allows Valve to charge ‘unfair and excessive’ commissions of up to 30%. The claim also alleges that users are ‘locked in,’ forcing those who bought a game on Steam to purchase all subsequent add-ons exclusively through the service.
Valve attempted to block the case at an early stage, arguing it should not be allowed to proceed to trial. However, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal rejected that request and ruled the lawsuit can continue, according to Reuters.
The case has been filed as a ‘collective action,’ meaning a single claimant can represent a much larger group. It is being backed by law firm Milberg London LLP, which specializes in similar cases against major companies. It is said that if the claim succeeds, PC Steam gamers in the UK could be eligible for yet-untold amount of compensation.
This UK case adds Valve to a growing list of tech giants facing scrutiny over storefront fees. Apparently, Apple and Google have faced similar lawsuits in Britain over their 30% app store commission as well. Valve is also facing a separate consumer lawsuit in the United States, filed in Seattle in August 2024.
Still, the 30% sales cut itself isn’t new; it has long been treated as a standard in the gaming industry. Most believed it could be traced back to the NES era, when Nintendo’s cartridge license for third-party games set the template for platform fees. That model carried forward and largely went unchallenged for years — at least until Epic Games openly tried to break that norm. Tim Sweeney launched the Epic Games Store in 2018, with ‘only’ a 12% cut, and pushed legal challenges against Apple and Google over such fees on mobile.
