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An antitrust case against Valve, the creator of the Steam platform for PC games, will now go ahead as a class action lawsuit.
The existing plaintiffs in the case, Wolfire Studios and Dark Catt Studios, will serve as class representatives, GamesIndustry.biz reports. The focus of the dispute is Valve’s 30% cut of Steam sales, which Wolfire has called anti-competitive and an exploitation of Steam’s dominance in the PC gaming industry. Alternative stores such as GOG and the Epic Games Store have struggled to compete, and can be difficult to install on Valve’s handheld PC, the Steam Deck.
In granting class certification, US District Judge Jamal Whitehead has also denied a Valve motion to exclude testimony from Dr. Steven Schwartz, an expert for the plaintiffs. Schwartz supports the view that Valve is the world’s biggest PC game distributor, with market share surpassing all of its competitors combined. Valve, however, argues that some of Schwartz’s analysis is based on “faulty methods and improper assumptions.”
The lawsuit originally began with a complaint by Wolfire in April 2021. That was dismissed in November the same year, but then revived with an updated filing in May 2022. Dark Catt launched a separate suit in June 2021, which was ultimately merged into Wolfire’s case in July 2022.
Should the class action prove successful, it could result in Valve paying damages to developers, publishers, and any other people who’ve paid a commission on game sales since January 18th, 2017. It’s not yet clear if or how Steam policies might change.
The lawsuit parallels several antitrust actions involving the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Like Valve, Apple and Google take a cut of all app transactions. However, Steam isn’t required to buy PC games where it’s often difficult to buy iPhone or Android apps without going through the Apple or Google storefronts. Steam is simply so important that even major publishers like Microsoft and EA can’t afford to ignore it.
