The Steam platform founded by Valve can be said to have completely changed the ecology of the PC digital game market over the years. However, in recent years, they have often faced monopoly accusations and legal actions due to their overly successful development. Recently, the publisher once again faced a class action lawsuit in the Netherlands.
According to a report by the Dutch website NL Times, local PC players in the Netherlands have recently filed a class action lawsuit against Valve worth up to 220 million euros (NT$7.9 billion), accusing the company of anti-competitive behavior.
The lawsuit is currently being handled by the Stichting Consumenten Competition Claims (CCC), which believes Valve violated competition law through a “most-favored nation clause.” Since Valve currently has a super-high market share of nearly 85% in the PC market, the lawsuit also claims that Valve is suspected of preventing developers from selling games at lower prices on other platforms such as the Epic Games Store, thereby maintaining their monopoly in the PC game market.
For now, Valve will still take 30% of the sales profit from all games released on the Steam platform. Even the payments related to the micro-transaction content of the game must be made through the Steam wallet, which means that this part of the transaction will also be taken 30%. Not only that, the lawsuit also claims that Valve officials will also prohibit developers from guiding players to purchase versions on other platforms, believing that this behavior has constituted a monopoly and violated Dutch consumer regulations.
Therefore, Steam users in the Netherlands can currently register on the CCC’s official website to obtain the right to compensation if the case goes to trial in the future.
It is worth mentioning that this class-action lawsuit is just one of the legal issues Valve will face in 2026. As recently as February 2026, the state of New York filed another lawsuit against Valve, alleging that the “loot box” mechanism of its games encourages children to participate in gambling. Soon after, they faced another nationwide class action lawsuit over similar issues. In March of this year, the Performing Rights Society from the UK also filed another lawsuit against Valve, accusing them of using the works of its members on the Steam platform without authorization.
Valve CEO Gabe Newell has always denied accusations that Steam engages in monopolistic behavior. This latest class action lawsuit has not been formally filed at this stage, and the CCC has also stated that it hopes to reach a settlement with Valve rather than going to court. However, if Valve fails to respond or chooses to refuse to negotiate, the organization will formally submit the case to a local court in the Netherlands for trial, but that may have to wait another five years for a follow-up result.
In addition to this series of legal issues, Valve is also in the spotlight in 2026 for its upcoming hardware products. For example, Steam Deck has also recently increased its prices, raising the price of the 512GB Steam Deck OLED model to $789, and the 1TB version to $949. At the same time, Valve plans to launch its latest products – Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR headsets this year.
Source: KOCPC Chinese