Baldur's Gate 3 was the bestselling game on Steam in 2023

Valve Corporation, the owner of Steam, the world's largest digital platform for PC games, is facing a £656 million lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Valve has exploited its dominant position in the market to overcharge 14 million UK consumers.

Digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt, who initiated the case, accuses Valve of manipulating the market to the detriment of UK gamers. The lawsuit, filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, contends that Valve has monopolized the PC gaming market by imposing price parity agreements on game publishers. These agreements allegedly prevent games from being offered at lower prices on competing platforms.

According to Shotbolt, these practices have allowed Steam to impose commissions as high as 30%, leading to inflated prices for PC games and additional content in the UK market. The legal action is structured as a collective claim, where one individual represents a larger group seeking redress.

Shotbolt, supported by the legal firm Milberg London LLP, asserts that Valve has violated UK competition laws for at least six years and aims to halt these practices and secure compensation for affected consumers.

Steam, a platform where players can buy games and downloadable content, achieved record-breaking sales in 2023, with revenues exceeding $9 billion (£7.1 billion) globally. Despite this success, the market remains highly concentrated, with the top 10 bestselling games capturing 61% of all sales, and the top 100 games accounting for 91%.

This lawsuit is part of a broader trend of collective legal actions targeting major tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Sony at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, seeking accountability and consumer protection under competition laws.