Load the Game

Valve Has a 3 Million Dollar Fine Suggested

• David MacDonald
• November 17th, 2016

I think it’s safe to say that everyone was happy to see Steam get a refund policy. While refunds weren’t unheard of before then, they tended to be rather rare and hard to get. A lot of hoops had to be jumped through. Now, while there are quite a few restrictions, customers have a reliable source of refunds. A couple of developers expressed concern about it, but overall consumers view it as a good thing. Despite this, it took quite a bit of hassle to convince Valve to pass this policy. Most notably, a lawsuit filed against it in Australia before the policy was implemented. A lawsuit that recently suggested that Valve pay $3 million AUD in fines.

The original lawsuit against Valve was levied in 2014 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The lawsuit was due to Steam’s lack of a refund policy at the time. This was found to directly violate Australian Consumer Law, which protects consumers’ right to a refund. Valve attempted to duck this with the defense that is not based out of Australia, but Seattle. A defense that proved to be unhelpful in the eyes of the court, as they were still found to be at fault. The ACCC has suggested the aforementioned $3 million dollar fine to Valve as of this year.

It’s worth noting that this $3 million dollar fine is not the confirmed fine that Valve will be forced to pay. There will doubtless be a large deal of legal wrangling on both ends before a final sum is finally reached. Valve has already made a counter proposal of 250,000 dollars. What the end result of this proceeding will be is not clear yet, although that will most likely change soon. Justice Edleman, the judge heading the case, aims to have the case finished within a month or two.