Valve CEO Gabe Newell doesn’t think Steam has a monopoly on PC games

Valve CEO Gabe Newell doesn’t think that Steam has a monopoly on PC gaming and insists that players have plenty of options for where to buy their games.

A new report from Bloomberg revealed what Newell had to say while testifying back in 2023 as part of the antitrust lawsuit between Valve and Wolfire Games. Starting in 2021, the latter accused the company of implementing a policy where developers were punished for selling games cheaper on rival storefronts.

When appearing in court, Newell was asked about Steam’s position in the industry and whether or not it has a monopoly on the PC game market.

Valve CEO says fans have “enormous choice” on where to buy games

He explained that “customers have enormous choice” on where they buy games, as there are plenty of options out there. That being said, the latest figures from 2025 show that Steam has a 75% market share of the PC gaming digital distribution market in the US, while the Epic Games Store, the nearest rival, has just 10%.

The Valve co-founder added that it’s ultimately up to players “where they purchase their products, whether they buy the game on an Xbox, whether they buy it on Steam, whether they buy it on Epic Games Store or whether they buy it directly from software developers.”

Steam

In the same report, it was also revealed that Newell denied the existence of a policy that tried to prevent developers from selling their games cheaper on other platforms that aren’t Steam, despite being shown.

“Valve does not have a policy or practice of dictating prices to third-party software developers on other platforms,” he explained. “Many of our partners and many of our customers are quite happy with the service that we’re providing.”

Valve is also involved in another lawsuit related to loot boxes in CS2, where the company compared them to Happy Meal toys.