Valve dropping individual arbitration for consumer complaints in the US
Conflicts to be settled in court instead, does not apply to users in the EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Quebec
Valve is dropping individual arbitration as its way to resolve conflicts with consumers in the US, instead saying such matters should be settled in court going forward.
As reported by Ars Technica, the company updated Steam's Subscriber Agreement saying in an email to users that it affects its users' "legal rights, including how disputes and claims between [them] and Valve are resolved."
"Among other things, the new dispute resolution provisions in Section 10 require that all disputes and claims proceed in court and not in arbitration," the message further read.
This seems to be mainly applying to US consumers, with Valve noting: "If the laws where you live mandate alternative dispute resolution options, you may seek a remedy under those options."
In a blog post, Valve also clarified: "For many of our customers (including the ones living in the EU and UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Quebec), these updates have limited impact as the arbitration rules did not apply to them even before the update."
The previous version of the agreement said that all disputes and claims between Valve and a user should be resolved "between [them] in individual binding arbitration."
It now stipulates: "You and Valve agree that all disputes and claims between you and Valve (including any dispute or claim that arose before the existence of this or any prior agreement) shall be commenced and maintained exclusively in any state or federal court located in King County, Washington, having subject matter jurisdiction."
The new Steam Subscriber Agreement comes into effect as soon as a user agrees to it (Valve has started rolling out pop-up messages on the platform), before becoming the default from November 1, 2024.