Valve founder and president Gabe Newell denied claims that Steam is running a monopoly, saying that players have “enormous choice” in the PC gaming space, according to a new report.
Bloomberg shared the tech company figurehead’s thoughts in a report covering documents brought to light from an ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed against his company. In it, the site covers allegations that the Steam marketplace holds an illegal monopoly on the industry, as well as Newell’s response to those claims.
Valve denied any wrongdoing in the suit, with the company’s boss refuting accusations by stating that gamers across PC and consoles don’t have to go to Steam for their games.
“Customers have enormous choice,” Newell said.
Elaborating, he added that players can choose “where they purchase their products, 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.”
Valve’s Steam has been considered by many to be the go-to marketplace for digital PC gaming for more than a decade. As noted by Bloomberg, its time at the top of the food chain has seen it grow its user base by 60% in the last five years, with around 42 million gamers playing any one of its games at any particular moment.
With Valve clearly positioned atop the throne, and with monopoly allegations frequently hurled its way, many other publishers have tried to cut into its power through years. The most famous example is likely Epic Games and its Epic Games Store, which launched with an 88% revenue share for developers in 2018. However, despite routinely offering free games to entice players to use its store as an alternative, it’s never managed to knock Valve down from its top spot.
Elsewhere in the report, Newell argued against accusations that Valve enforces a policy that discourages other publishers from cheaper pricing options on non-Steam digital retailers. The supposed policy accuses Steam of using aggressive tactics against publishers, such as Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Interactive, in order to maintain its position in PC gamers’ minds.
Newell said his company “does not have a policy or practice of dictating prices to third-party software developers on other platforms,” according to a transcript from his deposition shared by Bloomberg.
“Many of our partners and many of our customers are quite happy with the service that we’re providing,” the transcript continued.
Valve has repeatedly found itself in legal crosshairs in 2026. As the aforementioned antitrust lawsuit continues, in January a UK tribunal gave the green light to a £656 million ($901 million) collective action lawsuit targeting Valve over monopoly concerns. On top of this, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a loot box-related lawsuit in February and, in April, the Australian government issued Valve a legally enforceable transparency notice to have the company detail how its systems intend to prevent child grooming and radicalization on the Steam platform.
Photo by Olly Curtis/Future Publishing via Getty Images.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
