The head of Epic Games has been quite critical of Valve‘s 30% profit margin on sales.
Unsurprisingly, Tim Sweeney has spoken out against Valve in the $900 million lawsuit filed in the UK, which was recently approved by a competition court. Given his rival store and previous criticism of Steam, Sweeney approves of the move. Based on his legal battles with Apple and Google, he believes there is merit to the lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in 2024, alleges that Valve prevents game developers from offering their products at lower prices on other platforms, requires that all additional game content be purchased through Steam, and charges excessive commissions, leading to higher prices for British consumers. Valve argued that the lawsuit should not be pursued as a collective action, which is functionally similar to a class action lawsuit. However, the Competition Appeal Tribunal disagreed and ruled that the lawsuit can proceed.
Sweeney focused specifically on the issue of DLCs. Although developers can sell DLC on other platforms and transfer them to users’ Steam copies, Valve does not allow developers to sell add-ons directly in-game or use the in-game user interface to direct users to stores outside the platform. Sweeney says this is akin to a car dealership demanding 30% of gas purchases. It’s one of the issues he and Epic have successfully fought against Apple and Google. Sweeney’s comments have naturally sparked a fierce backlash, but he has firmly stood by his position. Today, he said that developers in the United States can direct users of iOS and Android apps to alternative purchasing methods. Apple and Google do not take a cut of these transactions. Valve is the only major computer and smartphone store that still insists on payment restrictions and a 30% “junk fee.”
Today, in the USA, developers are free to steer users of iOS and Android apps to competing purchase methods. Apple and Google collect 0% on those transactions.
On computers and smartphones, Valve is the only major store still holding onto the payments tie and 30% junk fee.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 30, 2026
Sweeney acknowledged in several responses that Steam keys and DLC can be purchased on other platforms. However, he reiterated that the problem is that, in compliance with Valve‘s rules, developers cannot offer players alternative purchasing options within the game. This complaint is essentially the same as the one at the heart of Epic‘s legal battle against Apple and Google. Although Epic is not directly involved in the lawsuit, overcoming Steam‘s 30% fee and prohibition of directing users to off-platform methods of purchasing add-ons was one of the Epic Games Store‘s founding goals. In 2019, Sweeney said that he would stop Epic Games Store exclusives and consider bringing Fortnite to Steam if Steam reduced its fee to 12%.
Meanwhile, Epic has shown a willingness to spend huge sums of money to enforce a principle that pits it against some of the world’s largest technology companies. Steam has maintained its large market share and restrictive policies because of its dominant position in the market. However, if this UK lawsuit (and a similar one slowly unfolding in the US) goes badly for Valve, it may be forced to retreat drastically.
Forrás: PCGamer
