Valve is facing a £656 million or over $901 million USD lawsuit in the United Kingdom after a tribunal ruled that legal action over Steam’s alleged monopoly power and pricing practices can proceed to trial.

The case accuses Valve of abusing its dominant position in the PC gaming market through Steam, leading to higher prices for consumers and restricted competition for developers. Originally filed in 2024, the lawsuit has now cleared a major procedural hurdle, with no trial date set yet.

UK Tribunal Clears Steam Lawsuit To Proceed

The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal has rejected Valve’s attempt to block the case at an early stage, allowing the collective action to move forward. The lawsuit, reported by BBC, was brought by digital rights campaigner Vicki Shotbolt in June 2024 and focuses on the operation of Steam, the world’s largest PC game storefront.

The claim is being brought on behalf of up to 14 million Steam users in the United Kingdom who purchased games or add-on content since 2018. Damages are provisionally estimated at £656 million, or roughly $900 million USD, depending on exchange rates.

If successful, individual users could receive compensation estimated at $28 to $56 USD per person, based on combined game and DLC purchases.

Allegations Of High Fees And Restricted Competition

At the centre of the legal action are allegations that Valve has abused its market dominance by imposing restrictive terms on publishers and consumers. Shotbolt argues that Steam’s standard 30 percent revenue cut is excessive and ultimately passed on to players through higher prices.

The lawsuit also claims that Valve restricts competition by preventing publishers from selling games at lower prices, or releasing them earlier, on rival platforms. In addition, if a player buys a game on Steam, any additional content must also be purchased through Steam, a practice the case describes as locking users into Valve’s ecosystem.

According to Shotbolt, these policies have reduced consumer choice and inflated prices across the UK PC gaming market.

Funding And Legal Backing Confirmed

The legal action is backed by more than £18.6 million, around $25 million USD, in funding and is supported by group action law firm Milberg London LLP. Valve challenged the funding arrangements as part of its effort to stop the case from progressing, but those objections were dismissed by the tribunal.

Valve has disputed the allegations, arguing that the claim lacks a clear methodology for calculating effective commission rates or measuring consumer harm.

Valve Already Under Pressure In The US

This is not the first time Valve has faced legal scrutiny over Steam’s business model. In the United States, developers Wolfire Studios and Dark Catt Studios filed antitrust lawsuits in 2021 accusing Valve of maintaining a monopoly over PC game distribution.

Those cases were initially dismissed, later refiled, and combined. By November 2024, the US lawsuits had been granted class action status. A separate consumer-focused case targeting Steam pricing was also filed in the US in August 2024.

Steam’s Scale And Industry Influence

Steam remains the dominant force in PC gaming. Industry data suggests more than 19,000 games launched on the platform in 2025, generating an estimated $11.7 billion USD in revenue. Valve has also expanded into hardware, most notably with the Steam Machine, strengthening its ecosystem beyond software sales.

Image Credit: Valve

While supporters argue that Valve’s commission rates are in line with console platforms such as PlayStation and Xbox, critics say Steam’s reach gives it outsized power over both developers and consumers.

What The Lawsuit Could Mean For PC Gaming

If the UK case succeeds, millions of Steam users could become eligible for compensation, and Valve may be forced to reconsider how Steam handles pricing, commissions, and platform restrictions. A ruling against Valve could also open the door to similar legal actions in other regions.

For now, the case represents one of the most significant legal threats Steam has faced in its history, with potential consequences that could reshape how PC games are sold worldwide.

The post Valve Faces $900m Lawsuit Over Steam Monopoly And Pricing Practices In UK appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The long running rivalry between PC storefronts is flaring up again, after claims that free games on the Epic Games Store are actually boosting sales on Steam instead of hurting them. The discussion has pulled in publishers, developers, and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney himself, reigniting a wider debate about what real competition in PC gaming should look like.

Steam Sales Jump After Epic Free Giveaways

The conversation kicked off after New Blood Interactive CEO David Oshry revealed that Blood West sold around 200 percent more copies on Steam on the same day it was offered for free on Epic. According to Oshry, the Epic Games Store giveaway acted as effective advertising, driving awareness and purchases on Valve’s platform rather than cannibalising them.

The claim quickly spread across social media, with many pointing to it as proof that Epic’s free games programme may be helping Steam more than Epic.

Tim Sweeney Says Everyone Wins

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney was quick to respond, pushing back on the idea that this outcome is a failure for Epic. According to Sweeney, Epic and Steam compete for every customer and every sale, but the presence of multiple storefronts ultimately benefits both gamers and developers.

Yes, and this is a feature of Epic Games Store’s free games that developers have taken advantage of all along!

Being free for a week on Epic raises awareness everywhere. Games also on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, Steam, iOS, or Android, see an uplift when it’s free on Epic. https://t.co/iM9rpszIXV

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 21, 2026

Sweeney also confirmed that this kind of sales uplift is not a surprise. He said developers have taken advantage of Epic’s free game promotions for years, as being free for a week raises awareness across all platforms, including consoles, mobile, and rival PC stores.

Epic Games Store Versus Steam By The Numbers

Sweeney acknowledged that Epic still trails Steam in raw transaction volume. He noted that Epic processes only about seven percent as many third party payments as Steam, but argued that this figure is misleading. On Epic, developers are free to run their own payment systems and keep 100 percent of the revenue, something many major titles reportedly do.

The more telling number is monthly active users, where Epic Games Store is 55%-60% the size of Steam. We heavily reinvest back into engaging users through the Free Games Program, putting our revenue back to work for developers in a way that those yachts and diamond teeth don’t.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 20, 2026

He added that monthly active users paint a different picture, with the Epic Games Store sitting at roughly 55 to 60 percent of the size of Steam. Epic, he said, reinvests heavily into user engagement through its Free Games Programme, rather than prioritising profits.

Larian Pushes Back On The Free Games Model

Not everyone agrees with Epic’s approach. Michael Douse, publishing director at Larian Studios, questioned whether giving away games can actually support a healthy storefront in the long term.

I understand Epic entirely funded Alan Wake 2 but this altruistic pro-developer talk doesn’t sit well when Remedy seemingly went into financial crisis because they couldn’t tap Steam for AW2 sales suffering potentially hundreds of millions in lost revenue. https://t.co/ylTCFsXIOO

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) January 21, 2026

Douse pointed to Alan Wake 2, developed by Remedy Entertainment, as an example of the risks involved. While Epic fully funded the game’s development, Douse argued that the title took over a year and more than two million sales to become profitable, potentially limited by its absence from Steam at launch.

He added that while competition is essential, giving everything away for free may boost user numbers without building a sustainable marketplace for premium games.

Fortnite, Exclusivity, And Future Expansion

Sweeney also addressed calls from players asking for Fortnite to appear on Steam. His response was consistent with Epic’s long standing position, stating the company would bring its games to any store that offers developers a fair deal.

We’ve said all along: we’ll come to any store that gives all developers a good deal.

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 21, 2026

The comment reinforces Epic’s broader message that its fight is less about exclusivity and more about reshaping how digital storefronts treat developers.

A Debate That Is Far From Over

The clash highlights a growing divide in how success is measured in PC gaming storefronts. For Epic, free games are an investment in awareness, competition, and developer choice. For critics, they risk inflating user counts without converting players into long term buyers.

What is clear is that Epic’s strategy is having real ripple effects across the PC market. Whether that ultimately weakens or strengthens Steam’s dominance remains an open question, but the rivalry shows no signs of cooling off.

The post Tim Sweeney Responds As Epic Free Games Boost Steam Sales And Ignite Storefront Debate appeared first on Shane the Gamer.