Managing Director Steven Schwartz submitted expert reports and testimony arguing in favor of class certification on behalf of approximately 32,000 PC game publishers in antitrust litigation brought against Valve, the largest PC video game distributor in the world.

A US District Court for the Western District of Washington granted certification to a class of approximately 32,000 PC game developers (“Plaintiffs”) alleging antitrust violations against Valve Corporation (“Valve”), the operator of the Steam gaming platform. Dr. Schwartz was retained by four law firms representing the class (Quinn Emanuel, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Constantine Cannon, and Lockridge Grindal Nauen) to assess the competitive impact and damages from the alleged anticompetitive behavior and to assess whether the issues in the case could be analyzed using evidence common across the class. During the class certification phase of the litigation, Dr. Schwartz submitted three expert reports and provided deposition testimony on behalf of Plaintiffs.

Judge Jamal N. Whitehead accepted Dr. Schwartz’s opinions and certified the proposed class, concluding that Plaintiffs presented a cogent market definition, met the predominance burden for antitrust injury, and demonstrated that damages can be measured across the class. Judge Whitehead also rejected all challenges to Dr. Schwartz’s testimony. “Dr. Schwartz’s methods are reliable and within the norms for admission,” the ruling states, while Valve’s arguments against his testimony, “go to the weight of the evidence, rather than admissibility.”[1]

Originally filed in 2021, Plaintiffs’ suit alleges that Valve violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and Washington’s Consumer Protection Act by implementing a Platform Most-Favored-Nations (PMFN) clause on publishers who sell their games on Steam. The clause allegedly requires content and price parity for any game distributed on Steam, meaning that game publishers must sell games at the same price on Steam as on other platforms and cannot have any different content from the content available on Steam. Moreover, Plaintiffs contend Valve may enact punitive measures against game publishers who violate the PMFN clause, removing games from its in-platform marketing efforts or delisting them from the Steam store altogether. Plaintiffs alleged that Valve’s PMFN clause results in anti-competitive impacts that inhibit competition and allow Valve to earn a supracompetitive commission on sales made through Steam, essentially enabling Valve to maintain a monopoly in the PC video game digital distribution market.

“Our team conducted robust economic analysis, provided objective evidence, and demonstrated the broader market impact of Valve’s alleged PMFN policy,” said Dr. Schwartz. “I am pleased that the Court granted class certification and look forward to presenting our analysis to the jury in this very important antitrust case.”

The Secretariat team supporting Dr. Schwartz during the class certification phase of the case included Stephanie Khoury, Matt Farber, Richard Brady, Nathan Mather, Anthony Papac, Neilson Nipper, Jacob Miller, Jack Schwartz, Grace Martens, Oliver Saffery, and Alex Smith.

Read the ruling in full here.

[1] Wolfire Games LLC et al v. Valve Corporation, No. 2:2021cv00563, accessed April 29, 2025, https://www.lit-antitrust.aoshearman.com/siteFiles/48231/[Antitrust]%20Court%20Order%20-%20certifying%20class.pdf