Steam Accused of Trying to Delist Rainbow Six Siege Over Ubisoft Pricing
The allegations, part of a broader antitrust suit, provide the first specific examples of Steam's internal enforcement against developers who undercut its store on competing platforms.
Reporting from 1 sources: GIGAZINE.
A class-action lawsuit against Valve alleges Steam pressured Ubisoft to remove Rainbow Six Siege from the platform after Ubisoft sold a limited edition cheaper on its own Uplay store. The suit also claims Valve halted Warner Bros. pre-orders for Shadow of War over lower prices elsewhere. Valve CEO Gabe Newell denied the allegations, stating the company has no policy of instructing pricing on other platforms.
Documents submitted in a class-action lawsuit against Valve allege that Steam employees told Ubisoft to remove all editions of Rainbow Six Siege from the platform by the end of the next business day after learning Ubisoft was selling a limited edition exclusively on Uplay at a lower price. The suit also claims Valve halted pre-orders for Warner Bros.' Shadow of War on Steam because the game was sold significantly cheaper elsewhere. Valve CEO Gabe Newell denied the allegations, saying the company has no policy of instructing pricing on other platforms. A former Prime Gaming executive noted that players' accumulated game libraries and friend networks on Steam make switching to another store difficult, reinforcing Steam's market dominance.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.