The antitrust lawsuit filed by Wolfire and Dark Catt against Valve has been approved for class action status

Developers Wolfire Studios and Dark Catt Studios have achieved class action status in their ongoing legal battle with Valve.

Documents obtained by GamesIndustry.biz reveal that United States District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead has approved their motion for class certification. This decision elevates the antitrust suit from a bilateral issue between the developers and the company operating Steam to a broader legal challenge.

The redefined class action encompasses developers, publishers, or any entities who paid Valve a commission related to game sales—particularly the 30% fee charged by Steam—since January 28, 2017.

The same ruling rejected Valve's request to disallow the testimony of expert witness Dr. Steven Schwartz, who was summoned by the studios to support their argument.

Wolfire Studios and Dark Catt will act as the class representatives in this proceeding.

Wolfire, known for developing Overgrowth, initiated an antitrust lawsuit against Valve in April 2021, criticizing the 30% commission as "unreasonably high" and accusing Valve of anti-competitive behavior by leveraging its market position to "exploit publishers and consumers."

Initially, this claim was dismissed in November 2021, prompting Wolfire to revise and resubmit it, which they did in May 2022.

In a parallel action, Dark Catt Studios, known for multimedia production and VR games, filed its antitrust lawsuit against Valve in June 2021. While portions were dismissed in November 2021, Dark Catt was allowed to continue with some of their allegations.

A ruling in July 2022 decided the two cases would be combined into one proceeding.