Steam updates subscriber agreements to remove arbitration clause
Change now dictates "disputes are to go forward in court instead".
Steam has removed the binding arbitration clause and class-action waiver in its subscriber agreement.
The controversial requirement was dropped when Valve started circulating its updated Steam Subscriber Agreement (SSA) earlier today.
"We've eliminated the requirement that disputes be resolved by individual arbitration," Valve said in a statement posted to Steam's blog.
"As always, we encourage you to contact Steam Support when you have any issues, as that will nearly always be the best way to reach a solution. But if that doesn't work, the updated SSA now provides that any disputes are to go forward in court instead of arbitration."
The company also confirmed it had "removed the class action waiver, as well as the cost and fee-shifting provisions, that were in prior versions of the SSA".
The Updated Steam Subscriber Agreement - Valve has deleted the binding arbitration clause and class action waiver for areas where these were enforceable
byu/wickedplayer494 inSteam
Whilst the change has limited impact on customers in Australia, the EU, New Zealand, Quebec, and the UK - the arbitration clause was not binding in these countries - it does mean players in other regions, like the US, are free to take Steam to court if so inclined.
"Turns out that if you have tens or hundreds of thousands of disputes, it costs more time and money to arbitrate each dispute individually than to just litigate a class-action lawsuit," opined one Steam user.
Some suggest the change follows high-profile issues around arbitration clauses elsewhere, such as the reputational damage Disney sustained when it attempted to fight a wrongful death lawsuit because the decedent's widower had agreed to Disney+'s terms and conditions that similarly funnelled all legal disputes into arbitration.
Ubisoft recently announced a full return to Steam, with all its new releases set to launch day one on Valve's storefront starting with Assassin's Creed Shadows on 14th February next year.