FAQ

The list is meant to grow as new public matters appear. Right now it includes, for example: UK Steam You Owe Us (Competition Appeal Tribunal Case 1640/7/7/24 — Vicki Shotbolt Class Representative Limited v Valve Corporation), certified as opt-out collective proceedings; US In re Valve Antitrust Litigation (Western District of Washington), with a publisher/developer class and a separate consumer class; and the New York Attorney General’s People of the State of New York v. Valve Corporation (Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Index No. 450952/2026), filed 25 February 2026, with links to the OAG complaint (PDF), press release, and Valve’s Steam Support FAQ. Each entry summarises what is on the public record and points to primary documents.

No. Nothing here is legal advice. We summarise and link to official notices, court sites, and party pages (for example steamyouoweus.co.uk and optout.steamyouoweus.co.uk for the UK collective proceedings, valvepublisherclassaction.com for the US class action, and ag.ny.gov plus Valve’s Steam Support FAQ for the New York filing). For deadlines, class definitions, and procedures, rely on those official sources or a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction.

Tribunal and court notices often describe more than one path—for example staying in a class, opting out, or (for some people) opting in. We mirror the same official URLs the claimants and courts publish so the procedural picture is complete. Linking to a form is documentation of how the process works, not a recommendation that you use it one way or another.

Steam You Owe Us is the public name for UK collective proceedings at the Competition Appeal Tribunal: Vicki Shotbolt Class Representative Limited v Valve Corporation (Case 1640/7/7/24). The Tribunal granted a collective proceedings order on an opt-out basis ([2026] CAT 4, 26 January 2026) and made a Collective Proceedings Order on 11 March 2026. The class representative alleges that Valve abused a dominant position and that affected consumers are owed compensation. The Tribunal-directed class period runs from 4 June 2018 to 4 June 2024 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and from 1 January 2010 to 4 June 2024 for Scotland, for qualifying PC game and add-on content purchases (including via Steam or other distribution channels, as defined in the official notice). If successful, compensation could follow for those who remain in the class and meet distribution requirements. The home page links to the notice and judgments for the full legal test and definitions.

The claim asserts that UK gamers were “overcharged,” but that is a legal argument, not a fact. You bought games at the prices displayed. Whether that amounts to “overcharging” in law is contested. We are not telling you to opt in or out of any claim; we are providing information so you can understand the arguments and make your own choice.

The UK proceedings are opt-out collective proceedings before the CAT. Under the official notice, people who are UK-domiciled on 11 March 2026 and meet the class definition are included unless they opt out by 11 June 2026 (requests must be received or postmarked by that date). People who are not UK-domiciled on that date but meet the other criteria and wish to participate use the opt-in route by the same deadline. The claimant’s opt-out webform is at optout.steamyouoweus.co.uk and opt-in at optin.steamyouoweus.co.uk; full rules and definitions are in the notice on steamyouoweus.co.uk.

The US case (In re Valve Antitrust Litigation) has a publisher/developer class (opt-out deadline September 2, 2025, has passed) and a separate consumer class for people who purchased PC games via Steam. The court appointed Cohen Milstein as Interim Lead Class Counsel for the consumer class in May 2025. In August 2025 the court granted a voluntary dismissal without prejudice for three named consumer plaintiffs, who are no longer class representatives for the putative consumer class but may remain as absent class members; other aspects of the consumer class are still proceeding. For official information and any consumer opt-out or deadlines, see valvepublisherclassaction.com and the court-authorised notices.

In February 2026 the New York Office of the Attorney General filed People of the State of New York v. Valve Corporation in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York (Index No. 450952/2026). It is a government enforcement complaint under Executive Law § 63(12), not a private class action. The verified complaint and the Attorney General’s press release on ag.ny.gov describe the allegations and relief sought; Valve addresses the lawsuit on a Steam Support FAQ page. We link to those official sources on the home page and do not provide legal advice.

It is a single place to see which Valve- or Steam-related cases are active, read short summaries and timelines, and open the underlying notices and filings. The goal is transparency and convenience, not to steer you toward or away from any party’s position.

Steam charges a commission (often cited as up to 30%) on sales through its store. The UK and US pleadings describe that fee using language such as excessive or anti-competitive; Valve and others dispute that characterisation. Many storefronts use similar fee models. The legal question is for courts and regulators; this site links to their documents rather than picking a side.

The claimant materials discuss potential compensation (for example public estimates on the order of tens of pounds per person). Outcomes depend on the Tribunal and any settlement. Separately, commentators sometimes note that large damages or structural remedies could interact with how platforms price games or share revenue with developers; those are policy and business questions outside this site’s scope—we simply point to where the case is documented.

In re Valve Antitrust Litigation is a class action in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington (Case No. 2:21-cv-00563). The publisher/developer class includes people or entities who, directly or through an agent, paid a commission to Valve in connection with the sale or use of a game on the Steam platform between January 28, 2017 and November 25, 2024. The opt-out deadline for that class was September 2, 2025; that deadline has passed. There is also a separate consumer class (people who purchased PC games via Steam) that is proceeding with different counsel; in August 2025 the court granted a voluntary dismissal without prejudice for three named consumer plaintiffs as class representatives (they may remain as absent class members). The official court-authorised site is valvepublisherclassaction.com.

The opt-out deadline for the publisher/developer class was September 2, 2025 (11:59:59 PM Pacific). That deadline has passed. For current status and any other options, see the court-authorised website valvepublisherclassaction.com. We only link to that information; we do not provide legal advice.

Public filings discuss possible remedies and liability; if a case resulted in large damages or injunctive relief, a platform might adjust commercial terms, regional pricing, or developer shares—that is a matter of speculation and depends on facts and law. Smaller studios sometimes cite litigation uncertainty when planning distribution. This site does not predict outcomes; it links to the court papers and notices where those issues are argued.

Some complaints allege that Steam’s commission is excessive or anti-competitive under competition statutes; Valve disputes those allegations. Fee levels at other digital stores are often compared in commentary. Whether any of that violates the law is decided in the relevant tribunals and courts; here you get pointers to those records.