Gaming IndustrySteamValve will see you in court! No, really, Steam’s just updated its subscriber agreement so that ‘all disputes and claims proceed in court’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Gaming IndustrySteamValve will see you in court! No, really, Steam’s just updated its subscriber agreement so that ‘all disputes and claims proceed in court’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Valve)
If you live outside the United Kingdom or EU, you might’ve had a pop-up lunge into your Steam game today informing you, helpfully, that updates to the Steam Subscriber Agreement had affected your consumer rights.
That’s because Valve is removingboth its class action waiver and forced arbitration clausesfor affected countries, as the notice reads: “The updated dispute resolution provisions are in Section 10 and require all claims and disputes to proceed in court and not arbitration.”
So why has Valve made this change? Well, while I’ve reached out (and will update this article if I receive a response), I’m willing to bet the concept of “arbitration overload” has something to do with it.
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Back in 2020, companies likeComcast and AT&Twere ambushed when a few enterprising lawyers discovered that, as an alternative to class action lawsuits, people under forced arbitration could simply band together and file their requests for arbitration all at once. As the New York Times put it: “Many companies, it turns out, can’t handle the caseload.” It’s sort of like a real-world DDOS attack.
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In the case, Valve shareda series of slidesin which the firm allegedly described the move as a “investment opportunity”, reading: “We could immediately begin recruiting claimants to pursue the claims a federal judge has now ruled are well plead and potentially viable but for whicha billion”—that’s their bold and italicisation, not mine—“customers have been compelled to arbitration.”
There’s even a website, that’s still up if you go looking for it, which claims “you could be entitled to hundreds or thousands in compensation on account of these illegal business practices.”
Now, listen. While it’s entirely possible Valve has changed its policy on forced arbitration for some completely different reason, I would bet a decent sum that the headache of such a clause, in light of the Zaiger case, is probablypartof why the company’s doing away with it. Steam’s new agreement reads that, to subscribers outside the UK and EU:
“You and Valve agree that all disputes and claims between you and Valve (including any dispute or claim that arose before the existence of this or any prior agreement) shall be commenced and maintained exclusively in any state or federal court located in King County, Washington, having subject matter jurisdiction.”
In other words, if you live in an affected country, then Valve will quite literally see you in court—and nowhere else, please.
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