Valve founder Gabe Newell testified in court this month denying that Steam holds a monopoly in PC gaming or enforces pricing controls on third-party developers. He said consumers have "enormous choice... whether they buy the game on an Xbox, whether they buy it on Steam, whether they buy it on Epic Games Store or whether they buy it directly from software developers" [1]. Newell also stated, "Valve does not have a policy or practice of dictating prices to third-party software developers on other platforms" [2, 3]. He made similar claims in Chinese, saying Valve "並沒有向其他平台上的第三方開發商強加價格限制的政策" [3].
The testimony is part of an ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed in 2021 by independent studio Wolfire Games alleging that Steam abuses its market power and enforces a "price parity" policy. The lawsuit claims Valve pressures publishers like Warner Bros. and Ubisoft to keep game prices on other platforms no cheaper than on Steam, threatening to remove their games otherwise [2, 4]. Internal employee testimony and court evidence have supported these allegations [4].
The case was upgraded to class-action status by a U.S. federal court in 2024, which also revealed new internal evidence against Valve [3, 4]. Despite the lawsuit, Steam’s user base has grown by about 60% over the past five years. The platform now maintains roughly 42 million concurrent users, confirming its dominant position in PC gaming [1].
Survey data shows that 72% of developers perceive Steam as a monopoly and consider it commercially impractical to release PC games while bypassing Steam [3]. The platform is known for taking a 30% revenue share from game sales [3, 4].
Separately, internal Valve discussions revealed Newell opposed increasing content restrictions on adult games, prioritizing developer creativity despite risks [5, 6]. He once retorted sharply, "If this is your opinion, then what the hell did I pay you for?" reflecting his strong stance on such policies [5].
Court proceedings are ongoing as evidence continues to be examined. Gabe Newell’s testimony in June 2026 represents the latest development in this high-profile antitrust battle over Steam’s market dominance and business practices [1, 2, 3].
