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Valve: Difference between revisions

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m Added the page to the 'Companies' category
Updated the page to mention software and hardware Valve develops in preparation for any anti-consumer actions that may follow valve's wake. Additionally expanded the Legal Disputes section of the article.
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Valve software was founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It is owner of steam which is a popular digital distribution service.
Valve software was founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It is owner of the popular digital software distribution service Steam. Valve additionally develops tools frequently used by various professional and amateur creators, such as Source Filmmaker and the Source Engines.  


== Legal disputes ==
== Hardware ==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+
!Hardware
!Release Year
!Year concluded
(if applicable)
!Background Information
!Related Articles
(if applicable)
|-
|Steam Machine<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(hardware_platform)</ref>
|2015
|2018
|A series of Linux machines developed by Valve and various other hardware companies. Considered a commercial failure and had all hardware discontinued by 2019.
|
|-
|Valve Index<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Index</ref>
|2019
|N/A
|A VR headset line developed directly by Valve after several years of experience while collaborating with HTC for their headsets.
|
|-
|Steam Deck
|2022
|N/A
|A portable handheld console. Uses a custom Linux distribution known as SteamOS.
|
|}


Steam's predominance has led to Valve becoming involved in various legal cases<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service)#Legal_disputes</ref>. The lack of a formal refund policy led the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to sue Valve in September 2014 for violating Australian consumer laws that required stores to offer refunds for faulty or broken products.
== Software ==<!-- Software listed here should NOT include any games Valve has distributed here, unless it is negatively controversial. All major content creation software they published should be here in case of potential controversy. -->
{| class="wikitable"
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!Software
!Release
Year
!Year Concluded
(if applicable)
!Background Information
!Related Articles
(if applicable)
|-
|GoldSrc
|
|
|
|
|-
|Source
|
|
|
|
|-
|Source FilmMaker (SFM)
|
|
|
|
|-
|Source 2
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|
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|-
|
|
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|}<!-- Note for future person handling this article, please help fill this information in -->
 
== Legal Disputes ==
 
Steam's predominance has led to Valve becoming involved in various legal cases<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service)#Legal_disputes</ref>.
 
<!-- While we will be referencing Wikipedia often here to get documentation, please for future articles that will branch from here, try to include more diverse references!
 
Also, all disputes listed here MUST be related to something that harms or helps the consumer, eg. Valve Corporation v. Zaiger, LLC
 
Additionally, could we please get a better preamble here? -->{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Dispute Title
!Year started and ended
(if concluded)
!Background Information
!Aftermath
!Related Articles
|-
|ACCC v. Valve Corporation
|2014-2016
|During this lawsuit, Valve was found by the Australian court refusing to offer refunds for faulty/broken products.
|Users now have the ability to easily refund games they purchased, so long as they follow the refund policy.
|
|-
|UFC Que Choisir v. Valve Corporation
|2015-2019
(still disputed)
|UFC Que Choisir sued valve under the grounds that users deserved to resell their digital licenses.
|Users in France have the right to resell their digital Steam library.
|
|-
|McLeod v. Valve Corp.<ref>https://casetext.com/case/mcleod-v-valve-corp</ref>
|2016-2016
|<!-- Some further reading on this case should be done here before background info should be added. -->
|Absorbed into another legal dispute; continues to be dismissed within Seattle courts.
|<!-- A related article would be ideal here since multiple cases have covered this dispute's topic. -->
|-
|Sean Colvin (and various others) v. Valve Corporation, CD Projekt S.A.,
CD Projekt, Inc., Ubisoft
 
Entertainment S.A., Ubisoft, Inc.,
 
Ubisoft L.A., Inc., kChamp Games,
 
Inc., Rust, LLC, and Devolver Digital,
 
Inc. <ref>https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/popular-gaming-platform-accused-of-abusing-market-power-through-contracts-4124057/</ref>
|2021 - ?
|5 Gamers in California sued Valve (among various other publishers) over participating in anticompetitive behavior with the Steam platform, most notably over the sale of games for lesser prices on other platforms.
|Unknown/not concluded.
|<!-- Highly recommend an anticompetitive behavior article here -->
|}


== Sources ==
== Sources ==

Revision as of 09:06, 15 January 2025

Valve software was founded in 1996 by Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It is owner of the popular digital software distribution service Steam. Valve additionally develops tools frequently used by various professional and amateur creators, such as Source Filmmaker and the Source Engines.

Hardware

Hardware Release Year Year concluded

(if applicable)

Background Information Related Articles

(if applicable)

Steam Machine[1] 2015 2018 A series of Linux machines developed by Valve and various other hardware companies. Considered a commercial failure and had all hardware discontinued by 2019.
Valve Index[2] 2019 N/A A VR headset line developed directly by Valve after several years of experience while collaborating with HTC for their headsets.
Steam Deck 2022 N/A A portable handheld console. Uses a custom Linux distribution known as SteamOS.

Software

Software Release

Year

Year Concluded

(if applicable)

Background Information Related Articles

(if applicable)

GoldSrc
Source
Source FilmMaker (SFM)
Source 2

Legal Disputes

Steam's predominance has led to Valve becoming involved in various legal cases[3].

Dispute Title Year started and ended

(if concluded)

Background Information Aftermath Related Articles
ACCC v. Valve Corporation 2014-2016 During this lawsuit, Valve was found by the Australian court refusing to offer refunds for faulty/broken products. Users now have the ability to easily refund games they purchased, so long as they follow the refund policy.
UFC Que Choisir v. Valve Corporation 2015-2019

(still disputed)

UFC Que Choisir sued valve under the grounds that users deserved to resell their digital licenses. Users in France have the right to resell their digital Steam library.
McLeod v. Valve Corp.[4] 2016-2016 Absorbed into another legal dispute; continues to be dismissed within Seattle courts.
Sean Colvin (and various others) v. Valve Corporation, CD Projekt S.A.,

CD Projekt, Inc., Ubisoft

Entertainment S.A., Ubisoft, Inc.,

Ubisoft L.A., Inc., kChamp Games,

Inc., Rust, LLC, and Devolver Digital,

Inc. [5]

2021 - ? 5 Gamers in California sued Valve (among various other publishers) over participating in anticompetitive behavior with the Steam platform, most notably over the sale of games for lesser prices on other platforms. Unknown/not concluded.

Sources

  1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(hardware_platform)
  2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valve_Index
  3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_(service)#Legal_disputes
  4. ↑ https://casetext.com/case/mcleod-v-valve-corp
  5. ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/popular-gaming-platform-accused-of-abusing-market-power-through-contracts-4124057/
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