Valve Faces Massive UK Lawsuit Over Steam Fees

Valve, the powerhouse behind the digital gaming distribution platform Steam, is now at the center of a major legal battle in the United Kingdom. The company faces a lawsuit alleging it has abused its dominant market position by charging excessive commissions to publishers and, in turn, potentially overcharging millions of consumers. The provisional damages being sought are staggering—up to £656 million, or nearly $900 million, according to Reuters and BBC reports.

This legal challenge was initiated in June 2024 by Vicki Shotbolt, a noted children's welfare advocate and digital rights campaigner. Acting on behalf of up to 14 million UK consumers who have purchased games or additional content through Steam or similar platforms since 2018, Shotbolt alleges that Valve's business practices have harmed both gamers and developers. The case, which has now cleared a major procedural hurdle in the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, could have widespread implications not only for Valve but for the entire digital gaming industry.

At the heart of the lawsuit are several key complaints. First, Shotbolt’s legal team contends that Valve prevents publishers from selling their games more cheaply—or earlier—on rival platforms by imposing restrictive conditions. For example, if a user purchases a game through Steam, they are required to buy any additional content, such as downloadable expansions, through Steam as well. This, the lawsuit claims, effectively locks users into Valve's ecosystem and limits competition in the marketplace. As reported by BBC, these "anti-steering provisions" are a central point of contention.

Moreover, the lawsuit alleges that Valve’s commission rates—up to 30% on game sales—are "unfair and excessive." This figure has been an open secret among developers for years, and it’s a rate that Shotbolt’s lawyers argue is only possible because of Valve’s dominant market position. According to Tom’s Hardware, Valve charges 30% on game sales below $9.9 million, drops to 25% for sales above $10 million, and takes 20% for sales over $50 million. While Valve is not alone in charging such rates—Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, and Good Old Games also typically take a 30% cut—Epic Games Store has made headlines by offering a much lower 12% commission.

Valve, for its part, has pushed back hard against the allegations. The company argued that Shotbolt and her team have not provided an adequate methodology for determining what Valve’s "effective commission charge" actually is. Furthermore, Valve sought to have the case dismissed outright, but the Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled in late January 2026 that the lawsuit could proceed. No trial date has yet been set, and the legal wrangling is expected to be both lengthy and expensive—especially given the high cost of hiring overseas legal counsel, as noted in industry commentary covered by Tom’s Hardware.

This isn’t the first time Valve has faced scrutiny over its business practices. In 2021, Wolfire Games, the developer behind Overgrowth, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Valve in the United States. Wolfire accused Valve of maintaining an "unassailable" monopoly over PC game distribution and using that dominance to extract high fees from developers. The case was initially dismissed by District Judge John C. Coughenour, who concluded that Wolfire had failed to prove Valve’s fees were "supracompetitive." However, Wolfire refiled the suit in 2022, and it was later combined with a similar action from Dark Catt Studios. By November 2024, according to GamesIndustry.Biz, these combined lawsuits were granted class action status, broadening their scope to include any developer, publisher, or individual who paid a commission to Valve on or after January 28, 2017.

Industry observers have been quick to point out that Valve’s commission structure is not unique. As Tom’s Hardware highlights, the 30% rate is something of an industry standard, with only a handful of competitors—most notably Epic Games Store—offering significantly lower fees. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has been a particularly vocal critic of Steam’s high commission rates, famously dubbing Valve the "Game Developer IRS." Sweeney’s own legal battles with Google and Apple over app store commissions, and his company’s decision to remove Fortnite from those platforms, have kept the issue of digital storefront fees in the public eye.

Despite the controversy, Steam remains a juggernaut in the PC gaming world. Valve is recognized as one of the most efficient companies globally, generating an eye-popping $50 million per employee, according to Tom’s Hardware. The platform’s popularity ensures that developers and publishers who want the widest possible reach for their games feel compelled to list them on Steam, even if it means accepting Valve’s commission terms. Some critics of the lawsuit argue that the exposure and sales potential offered by Steam justify the fees, especially compared to less-trafficked platforms with lower commission rates. Others point out that for many consumers, prices on Steam are no higher than in physical stores or on other digital storefronts, and that frequent sales and discounts often benefit gamers directly.

Still, the lawsuit’s core argument is that Valve’s market dominance has allowed it to set rules that stifle competition and choice. By allegedly prohibiting publishers from offering lower prices elsewhere and requiring all in-game purchases to go through Steam if the base game was purchased there, the company is accused of limiting both consumer options and potential savings. Whether these practices cross the line into illegal anti-competitive behavior is now for the UK courts to decide.

If Shotbolt’s case succeeds, the impact could be profound. All 14 million UK Steam users who bought games or additional content since 2018 could be eligible for compensation, and similar lawsuits might follow in other countries. The case could also force Valve—and perhaps its competitors—to rethink how they structure commissions and platform exclusivity, potentially reshaping the economics of digital gaming for years to come.

For now, the gaming world waits. The outcome of this lawsuit could set a precedent that ripples across the industry, challenging the business models of not just Valve, but every major player in the digital distribution space.