The UK specialist competition tribunal has certified the £656m legal claim against Valve brought by children’s rights campaigner, Vicki Shotbolt. This marks a significant first victory for the class of around 14 million PC gamers against Valve – the owner of popular gaming platform, Steam.

The claim alleges that Valve has abused its dominant position in the PC gaming market under UK competition law by imposing excessive commission charges and anti-competitive restrictions on game developers selling gaming titles on the Steam platform.

These excessive commission charges are passed onto consumers by way of increased prices for PC games and in-game content.

Ms Shotbolt, the class representative, asserts that Valve’s conduct has increased the prices of games across the entire market. Therefore the class is not limited to Steam users but also includes purchasers of PC games and downloadable content on other gaming platforms and distribution channels.