Valve Corporation, the company behind PC game distribution market Steam, is facing a £656m lawsuit in the UK after a recent tribunal gave it the green light.

Valve is claimed to have ‘abused its dominance’ in the PC market, effectively locking players into purchasing games on the platform at allegedly inflated prices.

The case is put forward by Vicki Shotbolt, a digital rights campaigner who’s representing the 14 million gamers who use Steam in the UK. If Shotbolt wins the case, each of those UK gamers could be issued compensation if they’ve ever purchased a game on the platform since June 5, 2018.

If you fall into this category, then you could potentially qualify for compensation if the case is successful.

Shotbolt’s lawsuit was filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London back in September 2024. She claims that Valve has held a ‘dominant position in the PC gaming market’ and that “it may have used this position in ways that violate UK competition law”.

The initial filing refers to Valve’s alleged use of ‘Platform Parity Obligations’, or PPOs. This is a practice that prohibits game publishers from selling their games to other distribution companies, like Epic Games or GOG, for better terms than on Steam.

Shotbolt also takes aim at Valve’s supposed restriction of not being able to use add-on content for a game purchased elsewhere unless the game was first purchased on Steam.

The third major allegation is that Valve charges publishers ‘unfair and excessive’ commission rates to distribute their games on Steam.

As a result, the lawsuit claims that PC gamers have been charged ‘up to 30%’ more than they should have been due to Valve’s practices. If the Shotbolt were to win her case against Valve, UK Steam users could be compensated anywhere between £22 and £44.

Millberg London LLP, a legal firm based in London, is backing up Shotbolt in the lawsuit. It has a previous reputation for upholding legal cases against large companies such as Valve, and even backed a similar filing against Sony in 2022.

There’s currently no word on when the case will next be heard.

Steam is easily the biggest and most popular gaming distribution platform on PC having been in operation since September 2003. According to SteamDB, the service has a monthly peak of 42m active users worldwide.

Data from Video Game Insights claims that over 19,436 games were released on Steam in 2025 alone, which amounted to $11.7bn in revenue.

Owner Valve also dabbles in making its own video games with Counter-Strike 2 and DOTA 2 remaining its current popular favourites.

It’s also seen recent success with gaming hardware after the Steam Deck’s 2022 launch proved popular among fans. The handheld PC allows gamers to take their Steam library on the go with them.

The corporation recently teased a brand new console-like device called the Steam Machine. A release date and pricing is yet to be determined on that front.

We have approached Valve for comment on the tribunal’s ruling.