(Credit: Valve)
A lawsuit in the UK is demanding Valve pay $837 million for abusing Steam’s market dominance to overcharge for PC games.
The legal action comes from Vicki Shotbolt, a children's digital rights activist who launched a campaign in the UK calling on local gamers to support what amounts to a class-action lawsuit.
“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,” Shotbolt’s team wrote on a website dedicated to the lawsuit.
Valve's has long been the largest digital marketplace for PC games. But according to Shotbolt, that has given Valve the ability to inflate game prices for an estimated 14 million players in the country. In response, she’s demanding the US company compensate affected consumers in the UK from £22 to £44 ($28 to $56).
As evidence, the lawsuit points to the 30% commission that game developers initially have to hand over to Steam for their game sales. Shotbolt claims the commission structure is “excessive,” and can lead to price inflation.
The lawsuit also claims Valve can keep prices high by preventing game developers on Steam from selling their PC titles at lower prices on rival platforms. “We say Valve Corporation is breaching competition law by imposing price restrictions on games sold on Steam,” Shotbolt’s website adds.
Valve didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But it’s not the first time Steam’s commission structure has come under fire. Gamers and developers have also complained about Steam’s 30% cut. In contrast, the Epic Games Store only charges a 12% commission.
In the meantime, Shotbolt’s website says it could take several years for the lawsuit to reach an outcome. The legal firm handling the case also sued Sony in 2022 for also overcharging gamers under similar claims. In November, a UK court ruled that the Sony suit could continue.
About Our Expert
I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.
Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
- 'It Sounds Much Better.' Trump Executive Order Renames AI to 'Super Intelligence'
- 'People Over AI:' Dozens Protest Outside OpenAI's DevDay Conference
- OpenAI's Altman Wants to Avoid Another Industrial Revolution, AI Overlords
- OpenAI Goes After Meta's Muse With Always-On Dots Agents
- After Breach, FBI Hits Back at ShinyHunters: 'We Know How to Find You'
- More from Michael Kan
