If you play PC games, chances are you own multiple titles through Steam. Valve’s digital storefront is the largest and most successful PC gaming platform, so much so that Valve has the ability to finance its own peripherals (good luck getting your hands on Valve’s new Steam controller). However, a consumer group believes this success is the result of harmful practices and is threatening to sue the company.
The Stichting Consumenten Competition Claims (literally the Consumer Competition Claims Foundation) has filed a class action lawsuit against Valve. This Dutch non-profit organization claims that Valve restricts competition in the PC gaming market and, more importantly, drives up game prices. According to this claim, Valve keeps prices under control through several practices. The biggest accusation is that Valve allegedly used a combination of contracts and peer pressure to “prohibit” companies from selling games at low prices through competing platforms such as the Epic Games Store (i.e. price parity). This practice, combined with a 30% commission on each sale, prevents studios from setting their own prices, thereby artificially inflating prices under threat of loss of profits. And if the cost base increases, so do the selling prices. Of course, Valve’s legendary Steam sales significantly reduce costs, but lower upfront prices would further reduce those savings.
The CCC has made several other allegations regarding Valve and how it (allegedly) unfairly controls game prices. These include forcing all microtransactions to go through the Steam wallet, which imposes an additional 30% commission, and preventing the activation of region lock keys purchased in countries where prices are lower in another. In total, the CCC is seeking 220 million euros (a little over $255 million) in damages for the Dutch players.
The plan of attack
It’s important to note that the CCC is not (or is not yet trying to) actively sue Valve. The CCC is not taking formal legal action at this time, but the nonprofit certainly isn’t ruling out exercising that option either.
The CCC says it wants to resolve things without involving a court if possible. The non-profit wants to “sit down with Valve” and ideally get the company to “stop imposing price parity obligations on publishers and developers” – which could lead to fairer gaming prices – as well as provide compensation to PC gamers. Failing that, SO the CCC would sue Valve.
As the CCC is a non-profit organization, it asks people to donate their support but not their money to the cause. You can register on the GameClaim website (the name the CCC is using for the lawsuit) to show Valve that you support the cause of “fair game pricing.” More importantly, the registration may indicate that you believe you are entitled to compensation for damages caused by overpaying for Steam games, but only if you live in the Netherlands. If the CCC wins, participating Dutch players will receive a portion of the CCC’s winnings as compensation for purchasing overpriced games. They don’t even need to have purchased PC games through Steam; The CCC alleges that Valve’s practices essentially poisoned prices across the board. Even if you try to save hundreds of dollars by shopping at alternative stores like Humble Bundle, you’re entitled to a piece of the €220 million pie – again, as long as you live in the Netherlands. However, you may have to wait several years to get payment.
Does a trial have a chance?
Obviously, it’s far too early to determine whether a possible lawsuit will make money for Dutch PC gamers. Additionally, none of us are lawyers, so we don’t know if a lawsuit would withstand the scrutiny that can be expected in court battles. But what is the CCC’s record? Well, it’s complicated.
The CCC has a history of suing large companies for “unfair trade practices.” These include many Dutch energy providers and online gaming sites, Samsung, LG and Booking.com (a source of cheap hotel rates). However, many of these lawsuits are recent and they are all high profile, so things are moving slowly. Furthermore, some third parties doubt that such proceedings have any chance of success. For example, when the CCC sued Booking.com for allegedly misleading customers with “false discounts” and “fabricated scarcity,” Xandra Kramer, a professor of private law at Erasmus Law School, said only one such lawsuit had resulted in a final court decision, and that was a denial of the claim.
Of course, it takes two to dance in court, and Valve is no stranger to trials. However, the company doesn’t have much luck when it comes to similar prosecutions. In 2016, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that Valve must pay a $3 million fine because it “made false or misleading statements about consumer guarantees.” And while more recent lawsuits alleging that Valve “abused and illegally maintained its dominant position in the PC gaming platform market for decades” are ongoing, moves to dismiss them have been denied. Although the chances of success of the CCC trial are low, they are not zero.
