Dutch consumer foundation launches €220m class action against Valve for abusing "dominant market position"

Dutch foundation Consumer Competition Claims has elected to move forward with legal action against Valve. The CCC is claiming that Dutch PC gamers have overpaid for games and in-game content by more than $250 million on Steam.

The CCC accuses Valve of an "abuse of dominance", stating that Valve is restricting competition by not allowing publishers to list their games on other platforms for lower prices.

The CCC's complaint also focuses on Valve "demand[ing] a commission of up to 30% on most sales via Steam", which is higher than other platforms, according to Consumer Competition Claims. CCC goes on to say that Valve makes users pay using their in-platform system to charge them more money.

When quoted in an article for Bloomberg, former VP of Amazon.com Inc. Prime Gaming Ethan Evans illustrated Steam's hold over the gaming space:

"When Amazon or anyone else tries to compete with Steam, they run into two problems," he says. "First, Steam has enormous inertia that is hard to change. And second, for customers to switch stores, they’d have to leave behind decades of investment, because all their game libraries and multiplayer friends are all on Steam."

This isn't the first time Valve has been challenged this year, as the lawsuit filed by digital rights activist Vicki Shotbolt can now move forward following a ruling by the British Competition Appeal Tribunal.

Valve's founder Gabe Newell responded to the accusations, saying "customers have enormous choice" regarding platforms to purchase games and in-game content. Other platforms, like Epic Games, have tried to compete with Steam by offering games for free and a larger revenue share to publishers. Despite these efforts, Valve and Steam still hold a dominant share in the PC gaming realm, and it is yet to be seen what changes will come from the newest suit, if any.