Editing Valve Corporation (section)

=== Anti-competitive practices ===
In February 2017, the [[European Commission]] began investigating Valve and five other publishers—[[Bandai Namco Entertainment]], [[Capcom]], [[Focus Home Interactive]], [[Koch Media]] and [[ZeniMax Media]]—for anti-competitive practices, specifically the use of geo-blocking through the Steam storefront and Steam product keys to prevent access to software to citizens of certain countries. Such practices would be against the [[Digital Single Market]] initiative by the European Union.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-02-02-valve-under-investigation-by-european-commission-for-steam-geo-blocking |title=Valve under investigation by European Commission for Steam geo-blocking |first=Matthew |last=Handrahan |date=February 2, 2017 |access-date=February 2, 2017 |work=[[GamesIndustry.biz]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202184925/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-02-02-valve-under-investigation-by-european-commission-for-steam-geo-blocking |archive-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> While the other five companies named are in stages of settling with the EU as of August 2019, Valve has stated it plans to fight the charges, asserting that geo-blocking affects less than 3% of its games, and that it had turned off such geo-blocking within the EU in 2015.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-antitrust-videogames-exclusive/exclusive-valve-to-fight-eu-antitrust-charges-five-videogame-publishers-to-settle-sources-idUSKCN1VJ26R | title = Exclusive: Valve to fight EU antitrust charges, five videogame publishers to settle: sources | first = Foo Yun | last = Chee | date = August 29, 2019 | access-date = August 29, 2019 | publisher = [[Reuters]] | archive-date = August 29, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190829213459/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-antitrust-videogames-exclusive/exclusive-valve-to-fight-eu-antitrust-charges-five-videogame-publishers-to-settle-sources-idUSKCN1VJ26R | url-status = live }}</ref>

In January 2021, five gamers filed a proposed class-action [[Competition law|antitrust]] lawsuit in California against Valve, alleging that the company "abuses the Steam platform's market power" by requiring game developers and publishers to enter into a '[[Most favoured nation|most favored nation]]' agreement with Valve, restricting their ability to sell games for less on other platforms and thereby preventing price competition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gardner |first=Eriq |date=2021-01-28 |title=Popular Gaming Platform Accused of Abusing Market Power Through Contracts |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/popular-gaming-platform-accused-of-abusing-market-power-through-contracts-4124057/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20231009231803/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/popular-gaming-platform-accused-of-abusing-market-power-through-contracts-4124057/ |archive-date=2023-10-09 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |date=2021-01-30 |title=Lawsuit accuses Valve of abusing Steam market power to prevent price competition |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/new-lawsuit-accuses-valve-of-abusing-steam-market-power-to-prevent-price-competition |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240614075316/https://www.eurogamer.net/new-lawsuit-accuses-valve-of-abusing-steam-market-power-to-prevent-price-competition |archive-date=2024-06-14 |access-date=2024-06-17 |work=[[Eurogamer]] |language=en}}</ref>

In May 2021, [[Wolfire Games]] filed a proposed class-action antitrust lawsuit against Valve, alleging that the company exerts [[monopoly]] power over the PC gaming market and uses its "gatekeeper role" to "wield extreme power over publishers of PC Desktop Games" and to extract "an extraordinarily high cut from nearly every sale that passes through its store."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Orland |first=Kyle |date=2021-04-30 |title=Humble Bundle creator brings antitrust lawsuit against Valve over Steam |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/04/humble-bundle-creator-brings-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve-over-steam/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240314090728/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/04/humble-bundle-creator-brings-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve-over-steam/ |archive-date=2024-03-14 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=[[Ars Technica]] |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=2021-05-01 |title=As Epic v. Apple approaches the courtroom, Valve is getting sued over Steam too |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/1/22413196/valve-steam-lawsuit-wolfire-games-humble-bundle-app-store-cut-epic-apple |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240411235319/https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/1/22413196/valve-steam-lawsuit-wolfire-games-humble-bundle-app-store-cut-epic-apple |archive-date=2024-04-11 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=[[The Verge]] |language=en}}</ref> Although a motion by Valve to dismiss the original lawsuit was granted in November 2021, Wolfire was allowed to file a revised complaint, and in May 2022 US District Court Judge [[John C. Coughenour]] ruled that that lawsuit could proceed, finding that Wolfire's allegations were "sufficient to plausibly allege unlawful conduct."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zwiezen |first=Zack |date=2022-05-11 |title=Lawsuit Claiming Steam Gives Valve Too Much Power Is Moving Forward After All |url=https://kotaku.com/valve-steam-antitrust-lawsuit-wolfire-games-us-court-1848912204 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240613143959/https://kotaku.com/valve-steam-antitrust-lawsuit-wolfire-games-us-court-1848912204 |archive-date=2024-06-13 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=[[Kotaku]] |language=en}}</ref> Wolfire's suit was consolidated with a similar lawsuit from another developer. In November 2024, it was affirmed into a class-action lawsuit, with any developer affected by Valve's revenue cut able to be part of the class.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.gamesindustry.biz/wolfire-and-dark-catts-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve-granted-class-action-status | title = Wolfire and Dark Catt's antitrust lawsuit against Valve granted class action status | first = James | last = Batchelor | date = November 28, 2024 | accessdate = November 28, 2024 | work = [[GamesIndustry.biz]] }}</ref>

In June 2024, Vicki Shotbolt, a children's digital rights activist, filed a lawsuit with the [[Competition Appeal Tribunal]] in the UK that accuses Valve of "rigging the market" for PC games, alleging that Valve used its market dominance to overcharge 14 million people in the UK and seeking damages of £22 to £44 per affected customer, or £656 million in total.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rahman-Jones |first=Imran |date=2024-06-12 |title=Steam owner Valve accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwwyj6v24xo |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240615021327/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwwyj6v24xo |archive-date=2024-06-15 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=[[BBC News]] |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kan |first=Michael |date=2024-06-13 |title=$837 Million Lawsuit Accuses Valve's Steam of Overcharging PC Gamers |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/837-million-lawsuit-accuses-valves-steam-of-overcharging-pc-gamers |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240614051956/https://www.pcmag.com/news/837-million-lawsuit-accuses-valves-steam-of-overcharging-pc-gamers |archive-date=2024-06-14 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=[[PCMag]] |language=en}}</ref>