Business Dutch gamers file €220 million claim against Valve, operator of game platform Steam - The Dutch case is part of a broader international wave of similar legal action.

Steam app icon on Google Play Store on a tablet with a laptop keyboard as a background
- Credit: MamunSheikh /Depositphotos

A new Dutch class action has been filed against Valve Corporation, the company behind Steam. The case is brought by the Stichting Consumenten Competition Claims (CCC), which has launched the proceedings under the name GameClaim. The foundation acts on behalf of all Dutch PC gamers who have purchased games through Steam or other PC distribution platforms since 2013, IGN Benelux reports.

The foundation claims that Valve holds a dominant position in the market, estimated at around 85%, and is breaching competition law through so-called Most-Favoured Nation clauses. According to the complaint, these terms prevent developers from selling games more cheaply on rival platforms like the Epic Games Store than on Steam. This, they argue, keeps prices across the PC gaming market artificially elevated.

The foundation argues that Valve’s 30 percent cut on all game sales is overly high and reflects monopolistic behaviour.

In alleged tying practices for in-game purchases, players must use the Steam Wallet to complete transactions, with Valve taking another 30 percent commission on those payments. Developers are also barred from referring players in-game to cheaper options available outside Steam.

According to an analysis by economic consultancy Copenhagen Economics, the foundation estimates that Dutch consumers have suffered more than €220 million in total damages. On average, this equates to an estimated €130 in damages per Dutch Steam account, based on roughly 2 million accounts in the Netherlands.

At present, no formal court case has been filed in the Netherlands. The foundation is following a legal pre-action process and has indicated that it intends to first engage in talks with Valve, with the aim of reaching a financial settlement without going to court.

Should Valve decline to enter negotiations or provide compensation, the foundation says it will proceed to court and launch formal litigation. The resulting legal process is expected to last between 3 and 5 years.

In the meantime, Dutch consumers can sign up free of charge through the Consumer Competition Claims website to preserve their potential right to future compensation.

Valve CEO Gabe Newell rejects all claims of monopoly behaviour. The company argued in a conversation with Bloomberg that it does not set prices for external sellers and that consumers have plenty of alternatives, including consoles, competing stores like Epic Games, and direct purchases from developers. Valve maintains that its market position is the result of its platform’s performance and user experience.

The Dutch case is part of a broader international wave of similar legal action. In the United Kingdom, regulators approved a comparable large-scale class action in early 2026, valued at around €756 million. Meanwhile, in the United States, indie developers have launched an antitrust lawsuit against the same industry practices.

In earlier proceedings from 2021 to 2023, the European Commission fined Valve for unlawful geo-blocking practices, involving restrictions on the distribution of games based on users’ location within the EU.

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[Dante Alighieri]

Is Valve forcing developers to sell through Steam? What's stopping them from just not using Steam?

 

[Staticness]

Is Valve forcing developers to sell through Steam? What's stopping them from just not using Steam?

Steam has a massive pool of users and infrastructure. To NOT use Steam is to basically throw away ~85% of your possible buyers. This is seen in the business as an unsound move.

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

Even US antitrust law has a specific carve-out that having a large share of the market alone doesn't make you a monopoly, you have to deliberately try to wreck competitors before you are liable for anything.

Contrast the Valve case with the Nintendo case back in the NES days. In that case, Nintendo was proven to have a monopoly due to wrecking Sega and Atari with how third party games were created.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

The foundation claims that Valve holds a dominant position in the market, estimated at around 85%, and is breaching competition law through so-called Most-Favoured Nation clauses. According to the complaint, these terms prevent developers from selling games more cheaply on rival platforms like the Epic Games Store than on Steam. This, they argue, keeps prices across the PC gaming market artificially elevated.

The foundation argues that Valve’s 30 percent cut on all game sales is overly high and reflects monopolistic behaviour.

So Valve's fees are too high, because it's a monopoly.

Also, it's hurting developers because they can't undercut Valve and sell on Valve's platform.

So basically they have all the tools they need to solve their own problem, but won't, so they run to Big Mommy Government.

 

[Water Store Remark]

they hold a dominant position because all their competitors keep acting like fucking retards and committing seppukku with fucking stupid business practices

I partially agree with this, but Steam does have a giant first-mover advantage. People with giant libraries on Steam probably aren't likely to go over to Epic even if it didn't suck ass; I know I probably wouldn't, and I've even bought games on Steam that I had for free on Epic just because it was more convenient.

 

[TyrasGuard]

This is the least organic shit I've ever seen in my life. I've been seeing a lot of threads on /v/ complaining about how Valve is a "monopoly" lately as well.

 

[deleuzeon]

The foundation argues that Valve’s 30 percent cut on all game sales is overly high and reflects monopolistic behaviour.

1. There are other platforms with other cuts
2. You can build your own platform and pay nobody a cut, videogames are just digital files, it's called a server
3. You don't do 1 or 2 because Steam provides you a ready-made platform and audience

You not liking the choice you're making to have access to Valve's platform and audience is not Valve having a "monopoly"

 

[Tanuki Mixed Nuts]

It never works because valve doesn't make any claim to a game posted on steam, besides that the price on other storefronts can't undercut the price on steam.

Yeah thats why previous attempts didn't do much. Steam can take as much a cut as they'd like and it's still a better deal than listing it on like ich.io or something lmao

 

[Staticness]

This is the least organic shit I've ever seen in my life. I've been seeing a lot of threads on /v/ complaining about how Valve is a "monopoly" lately as well.

You can tell they're not made by actual video game players because anyone with eyes to see can see the massive piles of shit Valve's competition is. I'll take Lord Gaben's monopoly over corporate assrape with jeet customer disservice.

 

[TowinKarz]

Contrast the Valve case with the Nintendo case back in the NES days. In that case, Nintendo was proven to have a monopoly due to wrecking Sega and Atari with how third party games were created.

They mostly got in trouble with Sega and settled with the FTC without admitting fault ... the case with Atari on the other hand?

Fell apart when it was shown that Atari had obtained the NES' lockout-chip's specs by fraudulently claiming they needed them from the Patent Office (which had them on file) for a legal case - and then gave them to the engineering department and said "reverse-engineer this shit" and made a "bootleg" copy of Tetris.

 

[Cardef1121]

There's only two things I hate in this world: People who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch.

 

[Miller]

Timmy Tencent is behind this.

 

[ObeseScreamingBlackMan]

LORD GABEN AND HIS TEAM OF LAWYERS LAUGH AT YOUR PUNY LAWSUITS.

GRIMBO, BRING LORD GABEN ANOTHER 2 LITER OF MOUNTAIN DEW AND ANOTHER BAG OF CHEETOS. YES, THE BIG BAG!

 

[Fagnacious D]

It is almost as if not fucking your customers over is a good strategy.

 

[Individualism Incarnate]

I partially agree with this, but Steam does have a giant first-mover advantage.

But Steam wasn't anywhere near the first of its kind. It was only the first that was actually good.

 

[Breadbassket]

But Steam wasn't anywhere near the first of its kind. It was only the first that was actually good.

Anyone remember Direct2Drive and Stardock Central?

 

[Tablet County]

Honestly, when corporations inevitably replace government, I would pledge my life to Valve and Gaben's immortal AI clone over any other group of corporate scalpers.

 

[WhatIsThePunchline]

It is almost as if not fucking your customers over is a good strategy.

For the people yes. For the beurocrats it seems like it's a massive problem.

How much has Valve gotten sued now, Epic, New York, now the Dutch?

 

[Snekposter]

Timmy Tencent is behind this.

This might as well be a press release from him since its hitting all his talking points.

 

[Whiskey]

I think if anyone was retarded enough to think these companies even tried there wouldn't be outright hostility towards them. We all know their version of a better service is half the service and a yearly service fee though.