Judge orders Valve to give Apple part of Steam private data on 436 games
Valve will have to unveil some of its private Steam information requested by Apple in a lawsuit against Epic Games.
Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson granted Apple’s request for data on 436 games sold via Steam. According to analyst Florian Muller, Valve’s lawyer tried to argue the decision by saying they’re not in the mobile market.
Apple reportedly needs this information to see whether Epic Games Store has impacted the competition despite Valve keeping its 30% rate anyway. The company also requested the following data:
- yearly sales of apps and in-app products;
- annual revenues and earnings of Steam;
- annual ad revenue;
- pricing of each app, including in-app details.
Magistrate Judge Hixson explains to #Valve‘s counsel that the definition of the relevant market (total games market if #Apple got its way) could be determined one way or the other. Counsel for Valve, however, says they understood Apple as defining the market as “#Epic“. https://t.co/MDd0PPKhor
— Florian Mueller (@FOSSpatents) February 24, 2021
According to Law360, Valve isn’t the only company that received such requests as Apple “has salted the earth with subpoenas.”
Valve initially refused a subpoena from Apple, saying that the sales data have nothing to do with the legal case against Epic Games. However, the Steam owner will now have to provide its private data until March 8, while the company will also have 30 more days to disclose information about 436 titles requested by Apple.
The next hearing between Apple and Epic Games is set to begin on May 3.
