The lawsuit came 2 years after Mason LLP handled a similar case in the US
Valve Corporation, the owner of Steam, the world’s largest digital distribution platform for PC games, is being sued for £656 million ($832 million).
The lawsuit, filed by digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, accuses Valve of exploiting its market dominance to impose excessive charges on UK gamers. The claim alleges that Valve restricts competition by enforcing price parity obligations on game publishers, which prevents games from being sold at lower prices on other platforms. This practice allegedly allows Steam to levy an excessive commission of up to 30%, leading to inflated prices for UK consumers purchasing PC games and additional content.
The lawsuit is a collective action claim representing 14 million people and aims to rectify alleged breaches of UK competition law that have persisted for at least six years. The legal firm Milberg London LLP, known for its group action cases, is backing the claim. This lawsuit is part of a broader trend of collective action legal cases targeting major tech companies over competition concerns.
Mason LLP led a lawsuit against Valve Corporation in 2022
In 2022, Mason LLP and two other firms led a class action lawsuit against Valve Corporation. The lawsuit, filed by various video game developers, alleged that Valve imposed anticompetitive pricing restraints through its Steam platform. A federal judge found these claims credible, allowing Steam users to seek compensation for Valve’s purported illegal monopoly practices.
