Do we like Valve?
Makes Half-Life, Counter-Strike and the Steam PC game store and hardware; based in Bellevue, Washington, US.
Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. Players like Steam, but regulators and courts keep targeting its fees, loot boxes and consumer practices. We'd hold off until the big cases are decided.
Valve was founded in 1996 by two ex-Microsoft staffers, Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington. It's based in Bellevue, Washington, and its first hit was Half-Life. It later added Counter-Strike, Portal and Steam, the big PC games store. It's private, and Newell is reported to own roughly half or more.
The regulatory record is patchy. In 2021 the European Commission fined Valve about €1.62m over Steam key geo-blocking, and Valve was the only firm that didn't cooperate. An Australian court also ordered A$3m in penalties over misleading consumer claims, and France fined it €147,000 over refunds.
The big fight now is over Steam's roughly 30% cut. A UK tribunal let a claim of about £656m go ahead, and a US case from developers is heading toward trial. Bloomberg reported that Newell denied any price-parity rule even when shown staff messages that appeared to enforce one. Valve says developers stay by choice.
In February 2026 New York's attorney general sued over CS2, Dota 2 and TF2 loot boxes, calling them illegal gambling aimed at young players. Valve says the items are purely cosmetic, that loot boxes always give an item, and that it doesn't work with gambling sites. It's a live case, so nothing is proven yet.
Gamers still rate Steam, and Valve has pushed into hardware with a new controller and the Steam Machine and Steam Frame. But with several big lawsuits pending and a history of fines, we land in the middle at 5 out of 10.