The collective situation in the UK, which had been raised to 2024, has progressed against Valve, which operates Steam.

The case was brought by digital rights activist Vicki Shotbolt to the UK Competition Tribunal against Valve on behalf of PC gaming across the UK.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that it restricts publishers from selling their games on other platforms under favorable terms, and that there is a system in place that would allow in-game purchases to be made using Steam’s payment service.

The lawsuit is an opt-out class action that automatically targets “all people who have paid for PC games or additional content in the UK since June 5, 2018,” which could reach up to 14 million people. If the lawsuit is successful, the estimated compensation amount is 656 million yen (approximately 137.5 billion yen), which means that each person will be compensated between 22 trillion yen (approximately 5,000 yen) and 44 sen (approximately 10,000 yen).

In addition, although the interim period in the UK was raised to 2024, Valve continued to do so without meeting the requirements for a collective interim claim. No, this time, the Competition Tribunal found Mr. Shotbolt to be a valid and proper representative of the group, and also allowed Valve to start as an opt-out group, rejecting Valve as a whole.

Now, the opt-out system refers to a system in which people who are considered parties to the entire class are automatically determined to be plaintiffs. If you do not hesitate to be included, you will need to individually express your intention to decline participation to the representative.Related articles).

The plaintiffs in this lawsuit will be the purchasers rather than the sellers, but the process will likely be similar to the one in the United States. The latest court ruling does not acknowledge Mr. Shotbolt’s argument, but merely permits the continuation of due diligence.