In 2018 a group of Valve staff tried to figure out just how efficient they were being—and found they were making more money per head than Apple, Facebook, and nearly every tech giant out there

Gabe Newell in Half-Life 25th Anniversary documentary video.

Back in 2021, indie developer Wolfire filed an antitrust lawsuit against Valve that accused the gaming giant of anti-competitive business practices—including a long-standing habit of taking unfair cuts from game developers on its store. Valve's 30% fees have come under criticism before—and they are notably high when compared to some other online platforms. Valve offers cuts, but only if your company's earning millions on millions—no alms for the little guy.

When the suit was dismissed without prejudice later that year, the judge ruled that "[Valve's] fee is commensurate with the Steam Platform's value to game publishers". However, a dismissal without prejudice gave Wolfire 30 days to bring the suit up-to-par, which it did, reigniting the legal battle in May 2022.