Valve Sued for Antitrust — Indie Devs Now Part of a Class Action, Whether They Like It or Not

How the Valve Antitrust Lawsuit Affects Steam Devs

So, you open your inbox and see something strange: an email from ValvePublisherClassAction.com. Your first instinct? Spam. Scam. Weird press mail. But it’s not.

This is a real court-authorized class action notice tied to an antitrust lawsuit against Valve — the kind that could actually change things for developers if it goes anywhere. And if you’ve ever sold a game on Steam to a U.S. player — even if you’re not based in the U.S. — you might already be included in the case.

What Is Valve Being Accused Of?

The core of the lawsuit is pretty straightforward: Valve is being accused of using its dominance with Steam to suppress competition. Specifically, they allegedly…

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• Prevent devs from selling their games cheaper on other platforms like Epic
• Restrict how you can use Steam keys — especially when pricing lower outside Steam
• Give big publishers better revenue shares and more visibility

The legal term for part of this is “most favored nation” (MFN) clauses. Basically: “Don’t offer a better deal anywhere else.”

How Real Is This?

Very. The case has been moving through the U.S. courts since 2021 and was officially certified as a class action in November 2024. The court has allowed the case to proceed on behalf of all developers who sold games on Steam between January 28, 2017 and November 25, 2024.

Even if you’re outside the U.S., if a customer in the U.S. bought your game during that time — you’re likely included.

What Are Your Options?

According to the official site — valvepublisherclassaction.com — you can either:

• Do nothing – You’ll remain part of the lawsuit automatically. If it succeeds, you might get something. If it fails, that’s it.
• Opt out (by September 2, 2025) – This lets you keep the right to sue Valve yourself, but you won’t get anything from this class action.

Why Does This Matter to Indies?

Look, for small teams and solo devs, Steam is the main lifeline. But this case touches on something deeper: freedom to price your work how you want. Freedom to experiment. Freedom to actually benefit from platform competition — not be locked into one storefront’s terms.

One dev on Reddit said it well:

“If you sell your game cheaper on another store, Valve can just refuse to host your game at all… now you’re stuck.”

That’s not healthy competition. That’s market control. And that’s exactly what this lawsuit is challenging.

But Isn’t Steam… Good?

For many devs, yeah. Valve offers tools, infrastructure, and long-term stability. There are reasons why most of us still launch on Steam first. But it doesn’t mean everything is fair — especially when the rules shift based on your size or revenue.

The lawsuit also claims that AAA publishers are given more favorable revenue splits and exposure. If true, it draws an even bigger line between big money and small creators.

Final Thoughts

No one’s asking you to panic or lawyer up. But if you’re part of this class — and odds are you are — it’s worth knowing what’s going on. This could be a small step toward more balanced treatment for devs… or just another reminder of how hard it is to push back when you’re independent.

I’ll keep an eye on it. If anything big happens, you’ll hear it here.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Fix Gaming Channel is not affiliated with Valve Corporation or the class action litigation.

For a related look at industry power dynamics, check out our piece on the 2025 industry layoffs.

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