Source: Valve
The antitrust lawsuit filed by Wolfire Games and Dark Catt Studios against Valve has been granted class action status.
Back in April 2021, Wolfire Games, the developer for the hit video game Overgrowth, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Valve, the company behind online platform Steam, alleging “anti-competitive practices.”
The lawsuit highlighted Valve’s 30% commission, which was claimed as “supracompetitive fees”, as part of its anti-competitive practices. The studio also alleged that Valve had been using its dominance to “exploit publishers and consumers."
The claim was dismissed in November 2021 after Valve filed a motion for dismissal a few months before, claiming that 30% was “industry standard” at the time. Courts cited that the suit “did not articulate sufficient facts to plausibly allege an antitrust injury based on that market." However, Wolfire Games was given a chance to file another complaint given that there were sufficient facts provided about the allegations they pitted against Valve. Wolfire Games refiled the lawsuit in May 2022.
Dark Catt Studios, a VR game developer, similarly filed an antitrust lawsuit against Valve in June 2021, but was also partly dismissed in November 2021. A court order issued in July 2022 compelled the two separate antitrust cases against Valve to be consolidated into one suit.
These aren’t the only antitrust lawsuits that Valve was slammed with. Another suit was filed earlier in August 9, 2024 by four individuals citing similar reasons, including “strangling competition with nakedly anticompetitive pricing restraints.”
Now, the antitrust suit has been granted class action status by United States District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead, meaning that any game developer or studio who paid a game sale commission to Valve on or after January 28, 2017, can join in on suing Valve.
If the class action suit is ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, Valve may face heavy repercussions when it comes to compensating those who were involved.
Additionally, Valve’s request to exclude a professional testimony provided by a Dr. Steven Schwartz, whom Wolfire and Dark Catt called to argue their case, was denied.
