Court Ruling Could Set EU Precedent That Valve Must Allow Steam Users To Resell Games

Valve has lost a court case in France that could have an impact on its business moving forward across the European Union. Four years ago, Valve was sued by a French consumer organization called UFC-Que Choisir. The suit sought to force Valve to make several changes to Steam, with one of them being to allow gamers to sell the games they no longer played.

Being stuck with a game that isn't what was expected or is no longer played is a big issue for many gamers. The suit was filed four years ago, and the court overseeing the case has finally made a ruling. The ruling was against Valve, and it has vowed to appeal the ruling.

The High Court of Paris ruled against Valve finding that its defense that Steam is a subscription service wasn't compelling. The court ruled that gamers should be allowed to resell Steam games. UFC-Que Choisir also took issue with the fact that there was no way for users to get the money left in their Steam wallet back if they left the service.

The court ruling requires Steam to reimburse users for money in their Steam wallet if they request it. Other items in the court ruling will require Steam to accept responsibility if users say that an item on Steam caused them harm, even if the item is in beta. Valve's rights to users' mods and community content has been diminished in the ruling and Steam will be forced to clarify when users can lose access to Steam for poor behavior. If Valve fails to comply with the ruling in the next 30 days, it faces a fine of 3,000 euros per day for up to six months.

Valve recently unveiled a new beta Steam Library that gives users new ways to sort content.