Steam收30%佣金被诉垄断 1400万人索赔62亿元

Core Viewpoint - A collective lawsuit against Steam has been approved for trial in the UK, involving 14 million players and claiming £656 million (approximately 6.2 billion RMB) in damages due to alleged market abuse and high commission fees [3][5][6]. Group 1: Lawsuit Details - The lawsuit, initiated by digital rights activist Vicki Shotbolt, accuses Valve, the developer of Steam, of abusing its market dominance by imposing restrictive terms on game developers, effectively locking players into the Steam platform [5][6]. - Steam allegedly forces developers to accept conditions that prevent them from launching games on competing platforms or selling at lower prices, resulting in a 30% commission that inflates consumer costs [5][6]. - Valve has contested the lawsuit, arguing that it lacks precise details regarding the impact of its commission structure and platform consistency terms [5]. Group 2: Steam's Market Position - Since its establishment in 2003, Steam has grown to become the largest PC game distribution platform, offering not only game sales but also community features and content ecosystems [4][12]. - As of December 2024, Steam reported a record of over 39 million concurrent users, which increased to over 40 million by March 2025 [10]. - In 2025, Steam saw over 20,000 games released, with sales reaching 857 million copies and total revenue of $11.7 billion [11]. Group 3: Competitive Landscape - Epic Games' founder Tim Sweeney supports the lawsuit, highlighting that Steam's practices are similar to those of Apple and Google, which faced legal challenges for similar commission structures [15]. - Despite Epic's lower commission rate of 12% and free game offerings, it has not significantly impacted Steam's dominance in the PC gaming market [17]. - Industry analysts argue that Steam's market position is not due to monopolistic practices but rather competitive advantages gained over time [18].