Valve: Difference between revisions

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Valve software was founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It is owner of ~~steam which is a~~ popular digital distribution service.

{{InfoboxCompany

| Company = Valve Corporation

| Name = Valve

| Type = Private

| Founded = 1996

| Industry = Digital distribution, software development, hardware engineering

| Official Website = https://valvesoftware.com/

| Logo = Valve_Corporation_Logo.svg

}}[[wikipedia:Valve_Corporation|'''Valve Corporation''']], also known as Valve Software, was founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It is the owner of the popular digital software distribution service [[Steam]]. Valve additionally develops tools frequently used by various professional and amateur creators, such as Source Filmmaker and the Source Engines.

==Legal disputes==

Steam's predominance has led to Valve becoming involved in various legal cases.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service)#Legal_disputes</ref>

<!-- While we will be referencing Wikipedia often here to get documentation, please for future articles that will branch from here, try to include more diverse references!

~~== Legal~~ disputes ==

Also, all disputes listed here MUST be related to something that harms or helps the consumer, eg. Valve Corporation v. Zaiger, LLC

~~Steam~~'~~s predominance has led~~ to Valve ~~becoming involved in various legal cases~~<ref>https://en.~~wikipedia~~.~~org~~/~~wiki~~/~~Steam_~~(~~service~~)~~#Legal_disputes~~</ref>. The ~~lack~~ of a ~~formal refund policy led~~ the ~~Australian Competition~~ and ~~Consumer Commission~~ (~~ACCC~~) ~~to sue~~ Valve in ~~September 2014~~ for ~~violating Australian consumer laws~~ that ~~required stores~~ to ~~offer refunds for faulty or broken products~~.

Additionally, could we please get a better preamble here? -->

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!Dispute Title

!Year started and ended

(if concluded)

!Background Information

!Aftermath

!Related Articles

|-

|''ACCC v. Valve Corporation''<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 Mar 2016 |title=Federal Court finds Valve made misleading representations about consumer guarantees |url=https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/federal-court-finds-valve-made-misleading-representations-about-consumer-guarantees |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=ACCC}}</ref>

|2014–2016

|During this lawsuit, Valve was found by the Australian Federal Court to have refused to offer refunds for faulty or broken products.

|Users now have the ability to easily refund games they purchased, so long as they follow the refund policy.

|

|-

|''UFC Que Choisir v. Valve Corporation''<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Dec 2024 |title=Tough Times Ahead for Digital Video Game Resellers: French Supreme Court Ruling in UFC Que Choisir v. Valve |url=https://www.foxmandal.in/tough-times-ahead-for-digital-video-game-resellers-french-supreme-court-ruling-in-ufc-que-choisir-v-valve/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=Fox Mandal}}</ref>

|2015–2019

(still disputed)

|UFC Que Choisir sued Valve on the grounds that users deserved to resell their digital licenses.

|Users in France had the right to resell their digital Steam library, overturned in October 2024.

|

|-

|''McLeod v. Valve Corp.''<ref>https://casetext.com/case/mcleod-v-valve-corp</ref>

|2016

|MacLeod started the first antitrust case against Valve Corp. over the sale of their games.

|Absorbed into another legal dispute; continues to be dismissed within Seattle courts.

|

|-

|''Wolfire Games v. Valve Corp.''<ref>https://casetext.com/case/wolfire-games-llc-v-valve-corp-7</ref>

|2021–2022

|The first notable antitrust case against Valve's unfair market manipulation of their games.

|Absorbed into another dispute/now a [[class action lawsuit]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=28 Nov 2024 |title=The antitrust lawsuit against Steam is now a class action, and that could have big repercussions for Valve |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/the-antitrust-lawsuit-against-steam-is-now-a-class-action-and-that-could-have-big-repercussions-for-valve/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref>

|

|-

|''Sean Colvin'' (and various others) ''v. Valve Corporation, CD Projekt S.A., CD Projekt, Inc., Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., Ubisoft, Inc., Ubisoft L.A., Inc., kChamp Games, Inc., Rust, LLC, and Devolver Digital, Inc.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gardner |first=Eriq |date=28 Jan 2021 |title=Popular Gaming Platform Accused of Abusing Market Power Through Contracts |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/popular-gaming-platform-accused-of-abusing-market-power-through-contracts-4124057/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref>

|2021 - Unfinised

|Five individuals in California sued Valve (among various other publishers) over participating in anti-competitive behavior with the Steam platform, most notably over the sale of games for lesser prices on other platforms.

|Not concluded because of indefinite postponement by Valve.

|

|-

|''Bucher Law PLCC v. Valve Corp.''<ref>https://www.bucherlawfirm.com/valve </ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bucher Law Steam Lawsuit |url=https://lawgud.com/lawsuit/bucher-law-steam-lawsuit/ |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=LawGud}}</ref><ref>https://www.bucherlawfirm.com/_files/ugd/38f6ef_69ae2fee5c5548538d526669d99be533.pdf</ref>

|C.A. 2021 - Unfinished<!-- Kind reminder that I do not remember when my case was moved over from Zaiger to Bucher, otherwise I would have listed the exact year.

~~== Sources ==~~

Update: March 1st, 2025: According to the legal documents I am able to obtain, and have linked, it started roughly in 2021. -->

|A companion to previous lawsuits against Valve over their anti-competitive monopoly, this time covering consumers over their purchase of games on Steam.

|Not concluded, slowly being arbitrated.

|

|}

~~<references/>~~

==Anti-Consumer Practices==

===Steam users do not own their games (2024)===

[To be worked on] Sources: <ref>{{Cite web |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=11 Oct 2024 |title=Steam's new disclaimer reminds everyone that you don't actually own your games, GOG moves in for the killshot: Its offline installers 'cannot be taken away from you' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/steams-new-disclaimer-reminds-everyone-that-you-dont-actually-own-your-games-gog-moves-in-for-the-killshot-its-offline-installers-cannot-be-taken-away-from-you/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shakir |first=Umar |date=11 Oct 2024 |title=Steam now says the ‘game’ you’re buying is really just a license |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/11/24267864/steam-buy-purchase-license-digital-storefront |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=The Verge}}</ref>

===PC version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive replaced by Counter-Strike 2 (2023)===

Counter-Strike 2, previously available as a 'Limited Test' since March 22nd 2023<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Ali |date=2023-03-22 |title=Here's how to access the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test {{!}} GamesRadar+ |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/counter-strike-2-limited-test/ |url-status=live |website=GamesRadar}}</ref>, released on September 27th 2023, replacing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on [[Steam]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bailey |first=Dustin |date=2023-09-27 |title=After 11 years of CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 has officially replaced the biggest game on Steam {{!}} GamesRadar+ |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/after-11-years-of-csgo-counter-strike-2-has-officially-replaced-the-biggest-game-on-steam/ |url-status=live |website=GamesRadar}}</ref>. This removed access to Global Offensive for those who had purchased it, every mainline PC Counter-Strike game before Global Offensive (Counter-Strike<ref>{{Cite web |title=Counter-Strike on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/10/CounterStrike/ |url-status=live |website=Steam}}</ref>, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero<ref>{{Cite web |title=Counter-Strike: Condition Zero on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/80/CounterStrike_Condition_Zero/ |url-status=live |website=Steam}}</ref> and Counter-Strike: Source<ref>{{Cite web |title=Counter-Strike: Source on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/240/CounterStrike_Source/ |url-status=live |website=Steam}}</ref>) can still be purchased and played on [[Steam]] through a separate library entry so this was an unprecedented move from Valve.

A legacy version of Global Offensive called 'CS:GO Legacy' was released on October 10th 2023<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-10 |title=Legacy CS:GO Version |url=https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/73EF-08A3-0935-6369 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010111016/https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/73EF-08A3-0935-6369 |archive-date=2023-10-10}}</ref> after backlash from the Counter-Strike community towards the Counter-Strike 2 launch and Global Offensive replacement. This version can only be accessed while Counter-Strike 2 is installed<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilde |first=Tyler |date=2023-10-13 |title=How to play CS:GO now that Counter-Strike 2 is out {{!}} PC Gamer |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-still-play-csgo-at-least-if-you-consider-custom-servers-where-you-fight-final-fantasy-summons-playing-csgo/ |url-status=live |website=PCGamer}}</ref>. Valve committed to supporting this version of the game until January 1st 2024<ref name=":0" /> but in that support window ignored bug reports from the community such as Counter-Strike 2 servers appearing in the community server browser with no way to distinguish these servers from Global Offensive servers unless the server provided what game it was targeting in it's name. CS:GO Legacy received only one update<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Counter-Strike 2 History · Change #20663547 · SteamDB |url=https://steamdb.info/app/730/history/?changeid=20663547 |url-status=live |website=SteamDB}}</ref> during its support window and this update didn't contain any public update notes so it is unclear what this may have fixed.

After the support window for CS:GO Legacy ended, numerous problems started occuring with the game. Global Offensive servers stopped appearing in the CS:GO Legacy community server browser<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-08 |title=CS:GO Legacy servers being rejected from Steam / CS:GO Legacy server browser listings · Issue #4047 · ValveSoftware/csgo-osx-linux |url=https://github.com/ValveSoftware/csgo-osx-linux/issues/4047 |url-status=live |website=GitHub}}</ref> which meant that only external third party server browsers could be used to find Global Offensive servers and these servers have to be added manually unlike [[Steam]]'s server browser which finds and queries new servers automatically. As a point of comparison, the mainline PC Counter-Strike games released before Global Offensive (Counter-Strike, Condition Zero and Source) still have a functional server browser without needing third party intervention.

It also became impossible to use multiple weapons (M4A1-S, USP-S, CZ75-Auto, MP5-SD, R8 Revolver) in regular gameplay as the loadout system used to switch between weapons and equip weapon skins was discontinued. If any of these weapons were equipped before the loadout system discontinuation, they will appear in the game's buy menu but the player will receive their counterparts when purchased.

==References==

[[Category:Valve Corporation]]

~~[[Category:Companies]]~~

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Valve software was founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It is owner of steam which is a popular digital distribution service.
+{{InfoboxCompany
+| Company = Valve Corporation
+| Name = Valve
+| Type = Private
+| Founded = 1996
+| Industry = Digital distribution, software development, hardware engineering
+| Official Website = https://valvesoftware.com/
+| Logo = Valve_Corporation_Logo.svg
+}}[[wikipedia:Valve_Corporation|'''Valve Corporation''']], also known as Valve Software, was founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It is the owner of the popular digital software distribution service [[Steam]]. Valve additionally develops tools frequently used by various professional and amateur creators, such as Source Filmmaker and the Source Engines.
+{{Clear}}
+==Legal disputes==
+Steam's predominance has led to Valve becoming involved in various legal cases.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service)#Legal_disputes</ref>
+<!-- While we will be referencing Wikipedia often here to get documentation, please for future articles that will branch from here, try to include more diverse references!
-== Legal disputes ==
+Also, all disputes listed here MUST be related to something that harms or helps the consumer, eg. Valve Corporation v. Zaiger, LLC
-Steam's predominance has led to Valve becoming involved in various legal cases<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service)#Legal_disputes</ref>. The lack of a formal refund policy led the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to sue Valve in September 2014 for violating Australian consumer laws that required stores to offer refunds for faulty or broken products.
+Additionally, could we please get a better preamble here? -->
+{| class="wikitable"
+|+
+!Dispute Title
+!Year started and ended
+(if concluded)
+!Background Information
+!Aftermath
+!Related Articles
+|-
+|''ACCC v. Valve Corporation''<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 Mar 2016 |title=Federal Court finds Valve made misleading representations about consumer guarantees |url=https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/federal-court-finds-valve-made-misleading-representations-about-consumer-guarantees |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=ACCC}}</ref>
+|2014–2016
+|During this lawsuit, Valve was found by the Australian Federal Court to have refused to offer refunds for faulty or broken products.
+|Users now have the ability to easily refund games they purchased, so long as they follow the refund policy.
+|
+|-
+|''UFC Que Choisir v. Valve Corporation''<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Dec 2024 |title=Tough Times Ahead for Digital Video Game Resellers: French Supreme Court Ruling in UFC Que Choisir v. Valve |url=https://www.foxmandal.in/tough-times-ahead-for-digital-video-game-resellers-french-supreme-court-ruling-in-ufc-que-choisir-v-valve/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=Fox Mandal}}</ref>
+|2015–2019
+(still disputed)
+|UFC Que Choisir sued Valve on the grounds that users deserved to resell their digital licenses.
+|Users in France had the right to resell their digital Steam library, overturned in October 2024.
+|
+|-
+|''McLeod v. Valve Corp.''<ref>https://casetext.com/case/mcleod-v-valve-corp</ref>
+|2016
+|MacLeod started the first antitrust case against Valve Corp. over the sale of their games.<!-- Some further reading on this case should be done here -->
+|Absorbed into another legal dispute; continues to be dismissed within Seattle courts.
+|<!-- A related article would be ideal here since multiple cases have covered this dispute's topic. -->
+|-
+|''Wolfire Games v. Valve Corp.''<ref>https://casetext.com/case/wolfire-games-llc-v-valve-corp-7</ref>
+|2021–2022
+|The first notable antitrust case against Valve's unfair market manipulation of their games.
+|Absorbed into another dispute/now a [[class action lawsuit]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=28 Nov 2024 |title=The antitrust lawsuit against Steam is now a class action, and that could have big repercussions for Valve |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/the-antitrust-lawsuit-against-steam-is-now-a-class-action-and-that-could-have-big-repercussions-for-valve/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref>
+|
+|-
+|''Sean Colvin'' (and various others) ''v. Valve Corporation, CD Projekt S.A., CD Projekt, Inc., Ubisoft Entertainment S.A., Ubisoft, Inc., Ubisoft L.A., Inc., kChamp Games, Inc., Rust, LLC, and Devolver Digital, Inc.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gardner |first=Eriq |date=28 Jan 2021 |title=Popular Gaming Platform Accused of Abusing Market Power Through Contracts |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/popular-gaming-platform-accused-of-abusing-market-power-through-contracts-4124057/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref>
+|2021 - Unfinised
+|Five individuals in California sued Valve (among various other publishers) over participating in anti-competitive behavior with the Steam platform, most notably over the sale of games for lesser prices on other platforms.
+|Not concluded because of indefinite postponement by Valve.
+|<!-- Highly recommend an anti-competitive behavior article here -->
+|-
+|''Bucher Law PLCC v. Valve Corp.''<ref>https://www.bucherlawfirm.com/valve <!-- Not exactly an ideal link, I know, but it is the first one I can find when looking it up --></ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bucher Law Steam Lawsuit |url=https://lawgud.com/lawsuit/bucher-law-steam-lawsuit/ |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=LawGud}}</ref><ref>https://www.bucherlawfirm.com/_files/ugd/38f6ef_69ae2fee5c5548538d526669d99be533.pdf</ref><!-- I am actually one of the users in this court case arbitrating against Valve, so I can help out here with updates on the case should there be the need for a dedicated article of this specific case - James -->
+|C.A. 2021 - Unfinished<!-- Kind reminder that I do not remember when my case was moved over from Zaiger to Bucher, otherwise I would have listed the exact year.
-== Sources ==
+Update: March 1st, 2025: According to the legal documents I am able to obtain, and have linked, it started roughly in 2021. -->
+|A companion to previous lawsuits against Valve over their anti-competitive monopoly, this time covering consumers over their purchase of games on Steam.
+|Not concluded, slowly being arbitrated.
+|
+|}
-<references/>
+==Anti-Consumer Practices==
+===Steam users do not own their games (2024)===
+[To be worked on] Sources: <ref>{{Cite web |last=Chalk |first=Andy |date=11 Oct 2024 |title=Steam's new disclaimer reminds everyone that you don't actually own your games, GOG moves in for the killshot: Its offline installers 'cannot be taken away from you' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/steams-new-disclaimer-reminds-everyone-that-you-dont-actually-own-your-games-gog-moves-in-for-the-killshot-its-offline-installers-cannot-be-taken-away-from-you/ |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Shakir |first=Umar |date=11 Oct 2024 |title=Steam now says the ‘game’ you’re buying is really just a license |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/11/24267864/steam-buy-purchase-license-digital-storefront |url-status=live |access-date=7 Apr 2025 |website=The Verge}}</ref><!-- Hi SKG people I linked this to, feel free to develop this section! -->
+===PC version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive replaced by Counter-Strike 2 (2023)===
+Counter-Strike 2, previously available as a 'Limited Test' since March 22nd 2023<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Ali |date=2023-03-22 |title=Here's how to access the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test {{!}} GamesRadar+ |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/counter-strike-2-limited-test/ |url-status=live |website=GamesRadar}}</ref>, released on September 27th 2023, replacing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on [[Steam]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bailey |first=Dustin |date=2023-09-27 |title=After 11 years of CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 has officially replaced the biggest game on Steam {{!}} GamesRadar+ |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/after-11-years-of-csgo-counter-strike-2-has-officially-replaced-the-biggest-game-on-steam/ |url-status=live |website=GamesRadar}}</ref>. This removed access to Global Offensive for those who had purchased it, every mainline PC Counter-Strike game before Global Offensive (Counter-Strike<ref>{{Cite web |title=Counter-Strike on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/10/CounterStrike/ |url-status=live |website=Steam}}</ref>, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero<ref>{{Cite web |title=Counter-Strike: Condition Zero on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/80/CounterStrike_Condition_Zero/ |url-status=live |website=Steam}}</ref> and Counter-Strike: Source<ref>{{Cite web |title=Counter-Strike: Source on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/240/CounterStrike_Source/ |url-status=live |website=Steam}}</ref>) can still be purchased and played on [[Steam]] through a separate library entry so this was an unprecedented move from Valve.
+A legacy version of Global Offensive called 'CS:GO Legacy' was released on October 10th 2023<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-10 |title=Legacy CS:GO Version |url=https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/73EF-08A3-0935-6369 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010111016/https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/73EF-08A3-0935-6369 |archive-date=2023-10-10}}</ref> after backlash from the Counter-Strike community towards the Counter-Strike 2 launch and Global Offensive replacement. This version can only be accessed while Counter-Strike 2 is installed<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilde |first=Tyler |date=2023-10-13 |title=How to play CS:GO now that Counter-Strike 2 is out {{!}} PC Gamer |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-still-play-csgo-at-least-if-you-consider-custom-servers-where-you-fight-final-fantasy-summons-playing-csgo/ |url-status=live |website=PCGamer}}</ref>. Valve committed to supporting this version of the game until January 1st 2024<ref name=":0" /> but in that support window ignored bug reports from the community such as Counter-Strike 2 servers appearing in the community server browser with no way to distinguish these servers from Global Offensive servers unless the server provided what game it was targeting in it's name. CS:GO Legacy received only one update<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-13 |title=Counter-Strike 2 History · Change #20663547 · SteamDB |url=https://steamdb.info/app/730/history/?changeid=20663547 |url-status=live |website=SteamDB}}</ref> during its support window and this update didn't contain any public update notes so it is unclear what this may have fixed.
+After the support window for CS:GO Legacy ended, numerous problems started occuring with the game. Global Offensive servers stopped appearing in the CS:GO Legacy community server browser<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-08 |title=CS:GO Legacy servers being rejected from Steam / CS:GO Legacy server browser listings · Issue #4047 · ValveSoftware/csgo-osx-linux |url=https://github.com/ValveSoftware/csgo-osx-linux/issues/4047 |url-status=live |website=GitHub}}</ref> which meant that only external third party server browsers could be used to find Global Offensive servers and these servers have to be added manually unlike [[Steam]]'s server browser which finds and queries new servers automatically. As a point of comparison, the mainline PC Counter-Strike games released before Global Offensive (Counter-Strike, Condition Zero and Source) still have a functional server browser without needing third party intervention.
+It also became impossible to use multiple weapons (M4A1-S, USP-S, CZ75-Auto, MP5-SD, R8 Revolver) in regular gameplay as the loadout system used to switch between weapons and equip weapon skins was discontinued. If any of these weapons were equipped before the loadout system discontinuation, they will appear in the game's buy menu but the player will receive their counterparts when purchased. <!-- No references on this except Reddit and Steam Community Forums/Guides exist unfortunately. -->
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
 [[Category:Valve Corporation]]
-[[Category:Companies]]