UK-based collective rights management organisation PRS for Music has “commenced legal proceedings” against Valve over the use of music in PC games sold and distributed via Steam, reports GamesIndustry.biz.
PRS for Music claims that Valve has “never obtained a licence for its use of the rights managed by PRS on behalf of its members, comprising songwriters, composers, and music publishers” since Steam was established.
“The litigation will progress unless Valve Corporation engages positively with discussions and takes the necessary license to cover the use of PRS repertoire, both retrospectively and moving forwards,” said the organisation in a press statement that namechecked “high profile series” such as Forza Horizon, FIFA/EA FC, and Grand Theft Auto (none of which are published by Valve, but rather Microsoft, EA, and Rockstar, respectively).
In the UK, however, licensing music for video games (that is, what happens when a developer or publisher negotiates a deal to place a particular song in their game) is a separate element of the copyright to what occurs when the game is subsequently downloaded or streamed by a player. PRC website documentation indicates that storefronts like Xbox use the same “General Entertainment Online Licence” that covers non-broadcast streamers like Prime Video, Disney+, and Netflix, and notes previous deals with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for the use of copyrighted music within games and games-related content downloaded across Europe.
This is the latest in a string of legal hurdles for Valve. In January 2026, a UK tribunal gave the go-ahead to a £656 million ($901 million) collective action lawsuit targeting Valve over alleged anti-competitive practices on PC storefront Steam. On top of this, last month the attorney general of New York Letitia James announced she is suing Valve, alleging the platform illegally promotes gambling to children.
The PRS for Music made headlines back in 2009 for pouncing on a woman who played classical radio to her horses to keep them calm without paying for a public performance licence, and for threatening large fines against a shop assistant who it accused of singing to herself without a performance licence while she stacked shelves, which it subsequently apologised for.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.
