Back in October 2025, Apple lost a massive antitrust case in the UK over App Store commissions. According to Reuters, Valve may be facing a similar 656 million-pound lawsuit very soon. After some back and forth with Valve resisting the proceedings, a UK tribunal has decided that the case should continue.
The case dates back to June 2024, and it revolves around excessive commission charges, “locking in” customers to Steam, and Valve allegedly preventing publishers from selling software cheaper on competitor platforms. One of the main arguments of the filing is that Valve requires its users to buy additional in-game content through Steam if the game was bought on Steam. According to Vicki Shotbolt, who filed this lawsuit, this enables Valve to take unfair advantage of commissions up to 30%.
This Is Not A New Accussation For Valve
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Reuters published a similar story way back in August 2024, where four US citizens filed a lawsuit accusing Valve of violating U.S. antitrust law. How were they doing that? By allegedly blocking publishers from giving better incentives (lower price, early access, platform bonuses) on competitor platforms. So the UK case definitely isn’t the first of its kind, and the accusations do have some weight.
A YouTube channel by the name of The Hated One posted a great video on this exact topic. The video argues that Valve forces a “price parity” requirement across various platforms. Again, this accusation isn’t entirely baseless, as the creator goes through official litigation that reveals some dodgy practices. Allegedly, some “unwritten rules” shown in emails and private communications between Valve and publishers in these documents reveal these practices.
There’s also the argument that Valve’s high 30% commission forces higher base prices for a lot of PC games. Keep in mind, Valve has a lot of control over the global PC gaming market, and many developers believe it to be an unfair monopoly. This is why independent distribution doesn’t really work, and why most publishers don’t even bother with it in the first place.
Regional pricing is another hot topic these days. As this Reddit post reveals, Forza Horizon 6 is $15 more expensive in Poland despite lower wages. Now, Valve doesn’t directly control regional pricing, but issues like these do push people away from buying games on the platform. Are you also getting disillusioned with Valve or Steam? Let us know in the comments.
