Some UK gamers are contacting ‘Steam You Owe Us’ to opt out of its class-action lawsuit: ‘Because of Valve, I have more options’

Steam You Owe Us, a partnership between Vicki Shotbolt and the Milberg London LLP law firm, is aiming to bring a class-action lawsuit to UK courts alleging Valve “overcharged” some 14 million UK gamers, totalling over $890 million in due compensation. Not everyone is convinced of the group’s goals, however, and they don’t want anything to do with it despite its posing as a representative of all UK Steam users.

“I emailed them to exclude me from the lawsuit,” one UK resident wrote on Reddit, sharing the email they sent to Steam You Owe Us where they’d outlined their desire not “to be included” or “represented by it.” They highlighted their positive experiences with Steam over the years, as well as that they’re “comfortable with how the platform operates,” asking confirmation that they were, indeed, taken out of the equation.

Due to how things work in the UK, you have to opt out of class-action lawsuits that allege they’re representing you. This is clearly outlined on the Steam You Owe Us page, with the group purporting to stand for 14 million Steam users who had spent money on the platform since 2018, despite the fact that many of these users likely had no idea they were being represented by someone.

It’s a strange case, given that most class-action lawsuits in the US and the EU are opt-in only, meaning those who want to be included will be, whereas others are left out.

Having become aware of this, other UK Steam users replied to the post above and said they’re following suit. “Valve has created competition in the market,” said one individual’s email, where they claimed that “because of Valve, I have more options.”

“I would like to wash my hands off this claim,” they wrote.

Several others did the same, though they did not share much of their emails’ contents compared to these two.

Steam You Owe Us was recently granted the go-ahead for its class-action lawsuit against Valve, with claims to be proven in court. It is being brought by Vicki Shotbolt via her Vicki Shotbolt Class Representative Limited, and alleges Valve abused its dominant position in the market to charge excessive fees of 30 percent for purchases, as well as to limit games from being sold on other platforms for prices lower than they have on Steam itself.

Shotbolt has been pursuing a major lawsuit against Valve since at least 2024, with her group, Vicki Shotbolt Class Representative Limited, exclusively filing claims against Valve over the last two years.

This isn’t the only class-action lawsuit Valve faces, as developer Wolfire sued Valve on similar grounds, particularly because Valve allegedly delisted their game from Steam when it was offered on another store for a lower price.

Critics argue that this price parity policy only applies to Steam keys being sold outside of Steam itself, though verified resellers like Green Man Gaming often run their own sales and discounts on Steam keys while the games in question are listed for full price on Valve’s storefront.

To say the waters are muddy in every instance this has been brought up is an understatement. The part about 30 percent fees being “excessive” should also lead to lawsuits against GameStop, the Microsoft store, Apple, GOG, and Amazon, and yet Valve is being solely targeted in the US and UK on that basis, despite being a fraction of the size of some of these named companies.