Valve hit with a multi-hundred-million-dollar lawsuit over artificially inflating PC game prices

Valve has been accused by a Dutch consumer group of using Steam's market power to maintain high PC game prices, higher than the consumer watchdog believes they should be.

The claim is being run by the Stichting Consumenten Competition Claims under the GameClaim banner, alleging that Dutch PC gamers have unfairly paid too much for PC games, downloadable content, and microtransactions due to Valve's restrictions on competition through Steam. The claim states that the group isn't opposed to Steam as a platform, but is seeking fair PC game prices and compensation for Dutch gamers.

The lawsuit claims that Steam is so dominant in the market that developers simply cannot avoid it, and since Valve knows this, it uses its position to maintain high prices and prevent cheaper pricing elsewhere. Additionally, the claim alleges that Valve forces developers to sell their titles at a minimum price and prevents them from offering lower prices or better terms through other online PC game stores. Essentially, the lawsuit claims Valve blocks developers from selling their games outside of Steam for less than they sell them on Steam.

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The suit also argues that Valve's 30% platform-wide cut for hosting the title is too high, and that consumers end up bearing the costs as developers factor them into the sale price. Reports indicate that Valve is being sued for more than €220 million in alleged damages to Dutch consumers, amounting to an estimated average of about €130 per affected person, according to NeonLightsMedia's summary of the claim.

Notably, the suit claims Steam holds an estimated 85% of the PC gaming market.