Steam changes its terms of service, removing mandatory arbitration clause and allowing gamers to take legal action against parent company Valve

The terms of service for Steam, a game sales platform operated by the game company Valve, have been changed to remove the mandatory arbitration clause. This means that any disputes that arise when using Steam can be resolved in court, and users can now sue Valve.

Steam :: Steam News :: Updates to the Steam Terms of Use
https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/4696781406111167992

Steam Removes Forced Arbitration Clause, Gamers Can Now Sue Valve
https://www.404media.co/steam-removes-forced-arbitration-clause-gamers-can-now-sue-valve/

Valve will see you in court! No, really, Steam's just updated its subscriber agreement so that 'all disputes and claims proceed in court' | PC Gamer
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/valve-will-see-you-in-court-no-really-steam-s-just-updated-its-subscriber-agreement-so-that-all-disputes-and-claims-proceed-in-court/

Valve had this to say about the updated Terms of Service:

We have removed the requirement that disputes be resolved through individual arbitration. As always, we encourage you to contact Steam Support if you have any issues, as that is almost always the best way to reach a resolution. However, if that doesn't work, the updated Steam Terms of Service now provides for disputes to be resolved in court rather than through arbitration. We have also removed the class action waiver, as well as the liability for costs and fees, that were in the previous version of the Steam Terms of Service.

A mandatory arbitration clause is a clause that stipulates that the contracting parties waive their right to use the court system and that any disputes related to a contract containing this clause shall be resolved by arbitration rather than in court. Mandatory arbitration clauses have the advantages of avoiding trials in countries where a fair trial cannot be expected, allowing disputes to be resolved in a short period of time, and avoiding the disclosure of hearing contents, including confidential information.

However, mandatory arbitration clauses can also be used by companies to avoid legal risks. In recent years, it has been reported that when Disney was sued by the family of a woman who died at a Disney resort, the company cited the mandatory arbitration clause in the terms of use of its streaming service, Disney+, to seek dismissal of the case.

In response to a lawsuit alleging that a man's wife died after eating at a Disney resort, Disney claims that anyone who has used Disney+ even once cannot sue Disney forever - GIGAZINE

It is believed that the reason behind Valve's change in the terms of service this time may be related to a lawsuit filed against law firm Zaiger in December 2023. In this lawsuit, Valve claimed that 'Zaiger advertised on social media to gather Steam users and tried to use class arbitration to force Valve to pay a settlement,' and presented internal documents obtained from Zaiger's former lawyer as evidence.

Valve pointed out that Zaiger's tactics are a legal tactic known as 'arbitration overload' and a way to pressure the company, and that the changes to the terms of service are likely an attempt to avoid this arbitration overload.

Any future disputes between users and Valve will be resolved in the courts of Washington State, USA. The full text of Steam's terms of use can be found below.

Steam Terms of Use
https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement