Counter-Strike and Dota 2 developer Valve is facing a lawsuit in the UK for ‘overcharging PC gamers’ on its digital game download platform Steam.
Vicki Shotbolt, a campaigner for children’s and families’ digital rights, has filed the £656m collective action claim for ‘overcharging 14m PC gamers and abusing its dominant position in the UK’ via its Steam platform.
Vicki has secured litigation funding from Bench Walk Advisors, and has the support of law firm Milberg London LLP, which is aiming to help UK PC gamers ‘get back what they’re owed as a result of Valve breaking competition law’. Milberg is the same law firm that made a £5bn claim against Sony PlayStation for its ‘abuse of dominance’.
The claim was launched at the Competition Appeal Tribunal and relates to Valve’s stranglehold on the UK PC gaming market.
If the claim is successful, gamers aged 13+ who live in the UK could be eligible for up to £44 in compensation if they paid for PC video games, or add-on game content, from June 5th 2018. Gamers who live in Scotland ‘may be eligible to receive more compensation’. Och aye.
Of course, it could take several years to resolve a dispute like this.
A website set up for the Valve UK claim went into more detail, stating: “Vicki accuses Valve of shutting out competition in the PC gaming market by forcing game publishers to sign up to pricing restrictions that dictate the lowest price games can be sold for on rival platforms.
“This has led to UK consumers paying too much for PC games and add-on content, and has enabled the gaming giant to continue charging an excessive commission – of up to 30% – to publishers.
“Companies who hold a dominant position in a market are not allowed to charge excessive or anti-competitive prices. They also cannot impose other unfair trading conditions that prevent or hinder others from competing with them.
“We believe Valve Corporation has been unfairly shutting out competition for PC games and in-game content, which has meant that UK customers have paid too much for these products.”
Esports News UK has contacted Valve for comment.
The news comes as the Counter-Strike Blast Premier Spring Final is taking place in the UK.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
