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    Steam owner Valve accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers
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    Steam owner Valve accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers

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    24 Comments

    1. Current_Ad_8567 on

      And that’s why I pirate everything. If I play it and I like it then yeah fuck it i’ll pay for it (or wait for a steam sale).

    2. spackysteve on

      Do people really buy games at full price on Steam? I always just wait for the sale.

    3. spoodie on

      There’s a culture of resentment and mistrust towards rival online market places. PC gamers often want everything to be available on Steam and are playing into the hands of Valve. It is very convenient to have all your games in one place, but that encourages this monopoly situation that Valve is bound to exploit.

    4. Bugssssssz on

      Hasn’t this been debunked already via the Wolfire lawsuit? There’s nothing in Valve’s terms on it, only in relation to specifically *keys* which Valve don’t even need to give to anyone.

    6. remedy4cure on

      You think that’s bad, those sorry losers on consoles have to literally pay money monthly for the pleasure of viewing an online storefront and playing games online? lol

      Imagine paying a subscription for steam

    7. TheLimeyLemmon on

      This does not feel like a lawsuit being brought forward in my interest as a customer.

    8. markhalliday8 on

      Anyone who uses steam knows this is absolute nonsense. If epic games is selling the game I want at 50 percent off, I just wait until it goes on sale on steam

      They charge the most because they are by far the best. They give you a two hour free trial on every single game.

    9. AnticipateMe on

      I find steam to have quite normal prices? There are tons of sales on at different times of the year and I’m always buying games at sick discounts.

    10. NATOuk on

      No-one I’ve ever spoken to ever has said anything other than Steam is a bargain, everyone knows to wait for the many sales and pick up more games than they have time to play for the princely sum of the square-root of fuck-all cubed.

    11. Lukeno94 on

      This seems like someone either trying to make a quick buck by hoping Valve settle, or someone who is being propped up by Epic in the background. Steam is by no means perfect, but the “excessive 30% royalties” I believe is both the industry standard (outside of maybe Epic), and almost certainly predates Valve as well.

    12. RejectedShadow on

      I’m sure Vicki Shotbolt, the founder and chief executive of The Parent Zone is really concerned about Valve’s postion in the market.

    13. WiggyDee on

      Okay but why picture BG3 when it is £8 more expensive on the playstation store than steam?

    14. marowitt on

      This whole case is built on a false claim. You’re not allowed to sell steam keys cheaper than on steam. As a dev you can get steam keys for free. This is there to prevent you from using steam as a purely marketing platform and then selling keys cheaper on your own site.

    15. NoDG_ on

      Valve is probably the company I trust the most. They have consistently been excellent to me as a consumer. Valve index and steam deck are both superb tech.

    16. shaftydude on

      “It says Valve “forces” game publishers to sign up to so-called price parity obligations, preventing titles being sold at cheaper prices on rival platforms.

      Ms Shotbolt says this has enabled Steam to charge an “excessive commission of up to 30%”, making UK consumers pay too much for purchasing PC games and add-on content.”

      So they want to give gamers the cheapest price and have the same fees as the Apple store I think.

    17. Skore_Smogon on

      This is objectively ridiculous.

      In a world where the gaming industry has been captured by big corps designed to suck your wallet dry, Steam is one of the few genuinely bright points.

    19. Lazypole on

      Steam has a loyal fanbase, one that won’t even buy the same games cheaper elsewhere.

      You may well call it a monopoly, but they earned it. Decades of good service, fair deals, a library all in one place, 2 week/two hour playtime return policy, can even return games and get a refund if the price is reduced, etc.

      This really is a nothing burger in my eyes. Steam is king for a reason.

    20. TOMMYxGUNN on

      Steam give you a refund no questions asked if you’ve played the game for less than two hours and decide it’s not for you.

      Then you’ve got the endless sales.

      I think you’d be hard pressed to find many of those 14m gamers who consider Steam a rip off.

      Nonsense story.

    21. g0ldingboy on

      But I can get Epic Games from Epic Store. And Microsoft Games from the Microsoft store.. nobody forces me to buy games from Steam. I have games in my collection that are on Steam, but I didn’t buy them on my Steam account because it was more expensive.

      Therefore, I have choice. Choice = no monopoly. Apple have been dug out for years their shitty practices, but the same practice goes on with Nintendo, MS & Sony.

    22. psaucy1 on

      these guys have no clue why Steam is a monopoly in the first place, they’re just hoping to potentially grab some free $ but all you’re doing is just ruining your reputation rather than Steam because most of the users are a loyal fanbase and 2/3 of players buy games during sales that happen every few months if not full price not to mention providing like the best services that prevent piracy. If you wanna write about ripoffs you can mention the platforms that provide mostly AAA games with rarely any sales on top of excessive monetizations, bugs, restrictive policies, and misleading practices.

    23. zeelbeno on

      Epic games are literally buying up exclusives so people have no choice but to use their crap platform.

      But yeah… steam are the problem

    24. Deliriousious on

      But, they’re the same price as literally any other marketplace?

      And, just buy it on sale?