A Dutch consumer foundation has filed a class action against Valve Corporation, the company behind Steam, claiming more than €220 million in damages on behalf of Dutch PC gamers who have purchased through the platform since 2013. The case is being run by Stichting Consumenten Competition Claims under the name GameClaim, and if you have a Steam account in the Netherlands, you are potentially looking at an estimated €130 in damages if it succeeds.
This is not an isolated story. It is the latest in a sequence of legal actions across multiple jurisdictions that say a remarkable amount about how regulators and consumer advocates currently view the PC gaming market – and, arguably, how well they understand it.
What the Dutch Case Claims
The foundation's argument rests on a few specific pillars. Steam holds an estimated 85% market share in PC game distribution, which the foundation argues constitutes a dominant position. Valve allegedly enforces Most-Favoured Nation clauses that prevent developers from selling games more cheaply on rival platforms than on Steam, keeping prices across the market artificially elevated. The 30% commission Valve takes on all game sales is characterized as overly high and reflective of monopolistic behavior. In-game purchases must go...
