Valve's Newell denies monopoly and price‑parity claims

Valve Corporation co-founder and president Gabe Newell has testified that the Steam digital storefront does not hold a monopoly over PC gaming, forcefully denying allegations that the company punishes developers for offering lower prices on competing platforms. The testimony, given in 2023 as part of an ongoing U.S. antitrust lawsuit, was recently detailed in a report.

The class-action lawsuit was filed by Wolfire Games in 2021. It alleges Valve abuses its dominant market position by enforcing unwritten "Platform Parity Obligations," which purportedly prevent publishers from selling their games at lower prices on other storefronts. Wolfire founder David Rosen has claimed he was told his game Overgrowth would be removed from Steam if it was sold cheaper anywhere else, including his own website.

In his deposition, Newell repeatedly denied the existence of such a policy. He stated that Valve does not have a policy or practice of dictating prices to third-party software developers on other platforms. When asked how Valve would react if it learned an employee had enforced such a rule, Newell initially said he was confused by the question, then added that many of the company's...