Video game giant Valve facing UK lawsuit over pricing, commissions

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Video game developer and distributor Valve must face a 656 million-pound ($897.7 million) lawsuit in Britain, which alleges it charged publishers excessive commissions for its Steam online store, after a tribunal ruled on Monday the case could continue.

Valve was sued in 2024 on behalf of up to 14 million people in the United Kingdom who bought games or additional content through Steam or other platforms since 2018.

Lawyers representing children’s welfare advocate Vicki Shotbolt, who is bringing the case, allege Valve prevents publishers selling products more cheaply or earlier on rival platforms to Steam by imposing conditions on them.

They say Valve requires users to buy all additional content through Steam if they’ve bought that game through the platform, effectively “locking in” users to make purchases on its platform.

This allows Valve to charge “unfair and excessive” commissions of up to 30%, Shotbolt’s lawyers said at a hearing in October.

Valve argued the case should not be certified to proceed towards a trial, an early step in the proceedings, but London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled the case could continue.

Valve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit is the latest mass case to get the go-ahead in Britain, including separate cases against Apple over its App Store and Google over its Play Store, both of which centre on commissions of up to 30%.

Valve is separately facing a consumer action brought by gamers in the United States, which was filed in Seattle in August 2024.

($1 = 0.7308 pounds)

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Aurora Ellis)