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Valve files motion to dismiss Steam competition lawsuit

Valve files motion to dismiss Steam competition lawsuit

PC giant Valve has filed a motion to dismiss in the competition lawsuit brought against it by developer Wolfire Games.

The motion was filed on July 26th, with Valve saying that the studio had failed to "allege anything unlawful" about its Steam keys set-up. The firm goes on to address the 30 per cent revenue share that it takes from all transactions on Steam, saying that it has not become supracompetitive – higher than the market dictates – or that Wolfire can even prove such a claim.

"Valve, an innovator that created Steam as a platform for playing video games in 2003 and, to create an integrated customer experience, offered games for purchase starting in 2004, set the 30% rate at the beginning, at a time of 'vibrant competition' for PC digital game distribution," Valve's legal filing reads.

"In other words, 30% was a competitive price from the beginning, was still so nearly a decade later in 2013, when Steam allegedly became 'dominant', and nothing is alleged to have happened since then to make it supracompetitive."

On this basis, Valve has requested that the court dismiss the case.

"Plaintiffs fail to allege unlawful conduct, antitrust injury, market power, or facially sustainable antitrust markets for two separate products," Valve's lawyers wrote.

"Rather, they attack a popular integrated service consumers value in a competitive market. The Court should grant the motion and dismiss Plaintiff Wolfire’s claims, if it does not stay them pending arbitration."

The lawsuit was filed against Valve by Overgrowth developer Wolfire Games back in April, with the studio alleging that the Steam giant abuses its position in the market.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.