Valve sued by French consumer group over Steam complaints

A branch of a national French association for consumer rights is calling out Valve for the terms of its Steam subscriber agreement. In its declaration of an intent to sue the company, UFC-Que Choisir outlines what, it claims, Valve does wrong by its customers in a post on its website.

Among the issues UFC-Que Choisir has with the publisher is the lack of responsibility it takes for hacked accounts. Valve itself admitted that upward of 77,000 Steam accounts are the victims of hackers on a monthly basis.

Similarly, any funds left in your Steam Wallet are irretrievable if your account is banned, locked or inaccessible for any reason.

That irrelevant Luxembourgian laws are applied to French Steam customers is the association's most nationally specific complaint, but taken together, UFC-Que Choisir concludes that it has a legal case against Valve.

This isn't the first time that a consumer rights movement has taken aim at the major game marketplace. In 2012, a German group made similar claims against Valve, but a court ultimately dismissed its suit last year. An Australian organization also filed charges against Valve for what it considered to be an anti-consumer refund policy. That refund program has since been reworked.