A collective action lawsuit against Valve has been given the green light after the video game giant was accused of unfairly pricing its add-on items and PC games on Steam.
The lawsuit was brought forward in 2024 by digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt on behalf of the 14 million Steam users in the UK who were allegedly ripped off on the platform.
The video game giant has been accused of “abusing its market dominance” by the digital rights campaigner, which could see all these UK users being compensated.
Valve is being slammed with an over £656 million ($900 million) lawsuit for allegedly forcing developers to consent to conditions that stop them from selling their games earlier or for less money on competing platforms.
The lawsuit also alleges that Valve requires customers to buy additional content through Steam if they bought the initial game on the platform, according to the BBC.
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This means users are essentially trapped in a loop and must keep buying from Steam.
The prices are then allegedly hiked, and Valve has made it so that Steam charges an “excessive commission of up to 30%,” Shotbolt argues.
This means UK users are essentially trapped in a cycle of buying more expensive PC games and add-on content from Steam after buying the initial game.
Shotbolt is campaigning on behalf of the UK customers who bought additional content through Steam or other platforms from 2018 onwards in what’s known as a collective action claim.
A collective action claim is a claim on behalf of a group of people, in which only one person will go to court.
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