Valve Corporation, the owner of Steam, the world’s largest digital distribution platform for PC games, is being  sued for £656m, accused of using its market dominance to overcharge 14 million people in the UK.

“Valve is rigging the market and taking advantage of UK gamers,” said digital rights campaigner Vicki Schotbolt, who is bringing the collective action claim, which means that one person goes to court on behalf of a much larger group of people. The claim has been filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, in London- accuses Valve of shutting out competition in the PC gaming market and says  Valve forces game publishers to sign up to so-called price parity obligations preventing titles being sold at cheaper prices on rival platforms.

Ms Shotbolt says this has enabled Steam to charge an excessive commission of up to 30%, making UK consumers pay too much for purchasing PC games and add-on content.

Steam is a PC gaming platform, where players can buy games and purchase in-game extras. 

According to VG insights, Steam had record-breaking sales in 2023, generating over £7.1bn ( $9bn) in global revenue, as the market is extremely concentrated with the top 10 bestselling games making up 61 per cent of all sales.

The top 100 games account for 91 per cent of total sales.

The claim is backed by Milberg London LLP, a legal firm which brings group action cases against large companies.

“Competition law is there to protect consumers and ensure that markets work properly.” Said Natasha Pearman, a partner at the law firm.

Other collective claims at the Competition Appeal Tribunal have sought compensation from Facebook, Google (£13.6bn) and Sony (Playstation £5bn).