Gabe Newell ordered to in-person deposition as part of Wolfire Games’ lawsuit against Steam

Back in April 2021, Wolfire Games filed an antitrust lawsuit against Valve, claiming that the company abuses its dominance of the PC gaming market and has formed a monopoly with Steam. Valve had initially managed to get the lawsuit dismissed , but after reviewing Wolfire's appeal, a judge reversed that decision. Now, Valve founder, Gabe Newell, may have to make a rare in-person appearance in court. 

The lawsuit claims that 75 percent of all PC games are sold through Valve’s Steam Store and argues that the company’s 30% revenue cut is only made possible through suppressing competition in the market in order to maintain a monopoly. In a counter filing, Valve fired back at these claims, arguing that the lawsuit is “devoid of any factual support”. Unfortunately for Valve, it will now have to fight its case in court, as the lawsuit is set to continue.

Gabe Newell in particular will be facing some scrutiny during this process. Newell has been ordered to attend an in-person deposition to answer questions related to Valve's business practices. Typically, Valve likes to do everything it can to avoid legal issues, and even more to avoid sending its founder to a courtroom. Valve's legal team did try to sway the judge into granting a remote deposition, citing COVID-related health concerns but the court ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that Newell was at particularly high risk of contracting health issues. As a result, he will have to attend the deposition in person, as spotted by GI.biz.

While a good portion of this lawsuit centres on Valve's position as the top digital PC game vendor, along with its 30% revenue split, Valve has made some adjustments to its monetisation of developers. Under the latest rules, developers will pay less of a cut depending on the amount of revenue or sales a game generates. However, this primarily helps publishers that regularly sell millions of copies for big franchises, and does little to help out smaller developers like Wolfire Games or other indie developers.

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KitGuru Says: Wolfire's big lawsuit against Valve will continue and it looks like Gabe Newell will have to face some tough questions. There is no trial date set yet though, so this will likely drag on well into 2024. 

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