UK tribunal allows £656m class action against Valve over Steam pricing

The Competition Appeal Tribunal filed a ruling on January 26 allowing a collective action claim against Valve to proceed in the UK, permitting lawyer Vicki Shotbolt to sue on behalf of about 14 million British Steam users. The action, first filed in 2024, alleges overcharging and anti-competitive practices, the BBC reported.

The claim argues Valve’s policies—for example, requiring games not be sold permanently cheaper on rival stores and that further content (DLC, expansions, cosmetics) for a purchased game can only be sold via Steam—allow Valve to “hold a dominant position in the PC gaming market” and that it “may have used this position in ways that violate UK competition law.” UK mass litigation works as a “collective action claim” on an opt-out basis, meaning Shotbolt’s team can sue on behalf of users unless they explicitly opt out.

The claim is seeking £656 million, which the source converts at the time of writing to about $904 million. Valve had asked for the case to be dismissed, arguing the proposed representative group “had not put forward an adequate methodology” and that the “class definition was inadequate,” raising issues such as many Steam users being children who could not opt in or out.

valve, steam, vicki shotbolt, competition appeal tribunal, collective action claim, class action uk, 14 million steam users, £656 million claim, overcharging allegations, anti-competitive practices, platform parity obligations, pcr representative group, dlc and expansions, cosmetics sales restriction, opt-out basis, steam pricing lawsuit, uk competition law, january 26 ruling, filed in 2024, methodology challenge, class definition dispute, permanent price parity, pc gaming market dominance, steam policies restriction, bbc report