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| Tim Sweeney. |
The longstanding debate over Steam’s 30% commission has reignited, with Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney calling out Valve’s payment policies as anti-competitive, all while the Half-Life developer faces a massive £656 million lawsuit in the UK.
The PC gaming world is no stranger to storefront disputes, but a fresh critique from one of Steam’s biggest rivals has thrown Valve’s business practices back into the spotlight. Tim Sweeney, the outspoken CEO of Epic Games, has publicly challenged Steam’s rules on how developers can process payments, arguing they stifle fair competition.
The criticism comes at a sensitive time for Valve. The company is currently defending a colossal £656 million class-action lawsuit in the United Kingdom, alleging that Steam’s pricing and commission policies overcharge millions of gamers.
The Spark: A Defense of Steam’s 30% Fee
The conversation began on social media platform X, where Ryan Fleury, a senior programmer engineer at Epic Games, offered a nuanced defense of Valve’s platform. Fleury argued that Steam’s dominant position is earned, built over decades by offering a robust suite of features—from user reviews and forums to cloud saves and family sharing—many of which are free for developers to use.
He suggested the 30% transaction fee could be seen as "worthwhile for the services involved." His core argument was one of market competition: if developers or rival stores believe Steam’s cut is too high, they are free to build and offer a cheaper alternative. In his view, government intervention to "punish" Valve is unnecessary where competition already exists.
Sweeney’s Rebuttal: The Problem Isn’t Just the Fee, It’s the “Walled Garden”
Tim Sweeney quickly pushed back, shifting the focus from the fee percentage to the rules that enforce it. According to Sweeney, the critical issue is that Steam prohibits developers from telling players within their games that they can purchase content—like DLC or in-game currency—elsewhere.
This rule, Sweeney argues, forces all transactions through Steam’s payment system, guaranteeing Valve its commission on every sale. He draws a direct parallel to the recent legal battles on mobile platforms.
“Apple and Google once required all in-app purchases to go through their systems, taking a percentage each time,” Sweeney noted. “Courts later ruled that this was not allowed.” As a result, developers on iOS and Android can now direct users to alternative, external payment methods where the platform holders take no cut.
Sweeney contends that Valve is now “the only major store on computers still enforcing this kind of rule.” He makes a clear distinction: while it’s reasonable for a store to charge a fee for initially selling a game, it’s unfair to demand a perpetual percentage of all future in-game spending from players acquired through that store.
He offered a pointed analogy: “It’s like buying a car and then being forced to give the dealership 30% of every gas purchase afterward.”
The Bigger Picture: Legal Pressure and Industry Evolution
Sweeney’s comments add a powerful voice to a growing chorus of criticism, perfectly timed with Valve’s ongoing UK legal battle. The lawsuit alleges Valve abuses its market dominance by enforcing price parity and charging excessive commissions, ultimately driving up costs for consumers.
The gaming industry has been slowly chipping away at the traditional 30% model. The Epic Games Store popularized a 12% commission, and other stores like itch.io offer developers far more flexible terms. However, Steam’s immense user base and market share make it an unavoidable platform for most PC releases, giving Valve significant leverage over policy.
The core question now is whether legal pressure, market competition, or public criticism from figures like Sweeney will force a change to Steam’s payment rules. If the mobile app store precedent holds, Valve’s policy of restricting payment information could become its most significant vulnerability.
For now, developers and players alike are watching closely. The outcome could reshape not just how Steam operates, but the fundamental relationship between storefronts, game creators, and players on the PC platform.
Steam’s rules do explicitly prohibit games from steering players to competing purchase methods, forcing everyone to pay 30% to Valve.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 30, 2026
Apple and Google did the same until the court explicitly found this practice to be unlawful. Now they don’t! https://t.co/dIyZlKAkBW
Source : Tim Sweeney via X