Comment on Dutch gamers file €220 million claim against Valve, operator of game platform Steam

• atro_city@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Maybe if you read the goddamn article you'd know of one?

  The foundation claims that Valve holds a dominant position in the market, estimated at around 85%, and is breaching competition law through so-called Most-Favoured Nation clauses. According to the complaint, these terms prevent developers from selling games more cheaply on rival platforms like the Epic Games Store than on Steam. This, they argue, keeps prices across the PC gaming market artificially elevated.

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  • lemmyvore@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    But if you go on isthereanydeal.com you will see a whole bunch of online stores that offer sales on games. They offer Steam codes too but are not limited to Steam, they cover many other platforms (including Epic).

    (Those btw are all legit sites showing only sales endorsed by the game publishers themselves, they all sell new game codes. ITAD has a standing policy to only source from that kind of sales, strictly no key resale sites.)

    So if you can get Steam games cheaper than are currently listed on Steam, and many games are also available on GOG which is DRM free… not entirely sure what this lawsuit is about.

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    • ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Limited time sales is not what’s being talked about. Those are allowed.

      It’s the regular pricing. A game listed on steam needs to make up for their 30% cut. Some other sites take a smaller cut. But multiple game companies have found that trying to list their games on non-steam key selling websites, for less money (because they don’t have to make up for as big a cut) are getting threatened to have their games removed from Steam for doing so. This is well outside any clause in Steam TOS, and would be illegal even if it was covered.

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      • imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        But multiple game companies have found that trying to list their games on non-steam key selling websites, for less money (because they don’t have to make up for as big a cut) are getting threatened to have their games removed from Steam for doing so.

        Has any of these claims been proven yet?

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    • atro_city@fedia.io ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Could you share an example of a deal that is less than on Steam? I couldn't find one.

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      • lemmyvore@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

        It can import your Steam wishlist and give you tons of examples. 😊

        Here’s some: Civ 5, Disco Elysium, Yakuza 6, Borderlands GOTY, Outer Wilds, Doom Eternal.

        You can also make filters that limit the suggestions to a certain sale percentage (eg. 50%+ off), or to a max price (eg. $10).

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  • Nugscree@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I though that Steam required content parity e.g. you cannot create a cheaper bundle for your own storefront and not sell that exact bundle on Steam. But they have no issue with you generating keys on their platform and either sell those off for cheaper yourself (Humble bundle) or give them away.

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    • ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Their TOS require non sale price parity with other stores that sell steam keys.

      Nothing else. They’ll still threaten to delist your game for seeking it cheaper on sites outside that scenario, hence the multitude of lawsuits.

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      • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

        They’ll still threaten to delist your game for seeking it cheaper on sites outside that scenario

        Do you have evidence?

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  • ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    They won’t. They’re here to blindly defend a multi billion dollar company despite it actively costing them more money.

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    • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Proof?

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      • ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

        You right here. Blindly defending them.

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• Flames5123@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  wolfire.com/…/Regarding-the-Valve-class-action/

  This dev was trying to sell his own game on his own site. A single player game. No steam keys. Just a download. And got threatened by valve to stop or be removed from steam. Illegal since that’s NOT in the contract he signed.

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  • alsimoneau@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    That’s their claim. They provide no proof.

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    • Flames5123@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      They’re going to court so I assume there is proof.

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      • alsimoneau@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

        Are you familiar with the justice system at all? Many lawsuits are attempts at bullying.

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  • Toribor@corndog.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    I’m skeptical this wasn’t about selling Steam keys on an external site for less than the price on Steam. Plenty of places sell DRM free versions of games at whatever price they want but steam keys can’t be discounted on external sites. That price parity is only for steam keys though at least per policy.

    partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/keys?hl=en-US….

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