Video game giant Valve hit with consumer class action over pricing
By Mike Scarcella
Aug 12 (Reuters) -Video game developer and distributor Valve has been hit with a consumer class action accusing it of barring publishers in its Steam online store from discounting their prices elsewhere, causing consumers to pay more for games.
Four gamers in California, Florida and Missouri filed their lawsuit against Valve in federal court in Seattle on Friday, alleging the company’s market dominance and billions of dollars in annual revenue came from “strangling competition” with price restraints.
The lawsuit said Valve was violating U.S. antitrust law by prohibiting PC game publishers from offering better deals on sites that compete with Steam. Game developers should want to vary their prices depending on the platform, according to the lawsuit.
A 30% fee that Valve imposes on game publishers that sell on Steam was also passed on to consumers through inflated prices for games, the gamers alleged.
“Valve’s staggering profits have been generated at the expense of consumers who are overcharged when they purchase games and in-game content at inflated prices from Steam," the complaint said.
Bellevue, Washington-based Valve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The gamers' attorney Steve Berman in a statement said the case is "important for consumers and we look forward to recovering their damages caused by Valve's over-pricing."
The lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of “at least millions” of members, unspecified monetary damages, and a court order barring Valve from trying to restrain prices for PC games.
Valve also faces an older lawsuit that was filed in federal court in Seattle in 2021 by law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which represents a proposed class of consumers and game publishers.
The new lawsuit said those groups’ interests “diverge irreconcilably.”
Quinn Emanuel did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Valve has denied any wrongdoing in the earlier lawsuit and is fighting the plaintiffs' bid to certify the case as a class action.
The case is Elliott v. Valve Corp, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 2:24-cv-01218.
For plaintiffs: Steve Berman, Xiaoyi Fan and Ben Harrington of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, and William Ward Bucher IV of Bucher Law
For defendant: No appearance yet
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Reporting by Mike Scarcella
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