A lawsuit filed against Valve in 2024 in the UK over the Steam platform’s sales-commission model has been given the go-ahead per a new report.
Steam Powered
Per a Reuters report, a 2024 lawsuit in the UK over Valve’s 30% commissions on Steam has passed through a tribunal, giving the go-ahead on Monday for the 656 million-pound ($897.7 million) lawsuit. The lawsuit is ‘on behalf of 14 million people in the United Kingdom’. It goes back to purchases since 2018.
The lawsuit hinges on the 30% commission that Valve takes by default on the platform. This, coupled with the fact that if you’re playing a game through Steam, then any DLC or MTX must also be purchased via the Steam store, ‘locks in’ users. This is the latest in UK cases against closed ecosystem storefronts. There is pending litigation against both Apple and Google over their mobile market duopoly.
Valve, at least from the outside, seems to have a monopoly on the digital PC market. Computers rarely come with disc drives, and no new titles seem to be available as DVD’s or Blu-Rays anymore. Xbox’s long-term plans on PC include an ‘open’ storefront that allows competitors to place their applications inside the Xbox on PC UI with no commission costs. If cases like these go through it may be seen as Xbox finally being ahead of the curve and not ‘too soon’ as they were with the Xbox One platform.
How do you feel about this situation? As gamers, we’re used to closed ecosystems, so what has changed? Let us know in the XboxEra Forums or make some noise in the lively XboxEra Community Discord Server. If you’re looking to be a bigger part of an amazing community, then either choice is a good one!
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