Video game giant Valve faces lawsuit over its online store

The PC gaming company is known for developing its own software distribution platform and popular franchises

Video game developer and distributor Valve is facing a £656 million lawsuit in Britain, after a tribunal ruled on Monday that the case, alleging excessive commissions on its Steam online store, could proceed.

The legal challenge, initiated in 2024, represents up to 14 million individuals across the United Kingdom who have purchased games or additional content via Steam or other platforms since 2018.

Children's welfare advocate Vicki Shotbolt is spearheading the action, with her legal team contending that Valve imposes restrictive conditions on publishers.

These conditions allegedly prevent publishers from offering their products at lower prices or earlier release dates on competing platforms.

Furthermore, lawyers claim Valve effectively "locks in" users by mandating that all supplementary content for a game bought on Steam must also be acquired through its platform.

This alleged monopolistic behaviour, Shotbolt's representatives argued in October, allows Valve to levy "unfair and excessive" commissions, reaching as high as 30 per cent.

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. (Valve)

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 per cent.

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

Valve, a well-established presence in the industry, is a video game developer, publisher, hardware and digital distribution company known for developing the software distribution platform Steam and the game franchises Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead, and Dota.

In recent years, the PC gaming company entered the video game hardware market with the Steam Deck in 2022 and is currently developing the Steam Machine.