Australia's High Court has upheld a ruling against Valve in a lawsuit filed against it in 2014 by Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission over the lack of a refund policy on Steam. The ACCC won the suit in 2016, and came out on top again a year later when Valve's first appeal was dismissed.
Valve implemented a refund policy in 2015, but the suit was filed in relation to the years prior to that. Valve had actually issued more than 15,000 refunds during the relevant period to players who were unable to install or play a game, but because nearly 25 million Australian consumers agreed to Steam's terms and conditions between 2011 and 2014, Justice James Edelman ruled that it was "impossible to calculate the precise number of consumers who were affected by the misrepresentations."
In December 2017, Valve applied for special leave to appeal the prior Full Federal Court denial of its appeal to Australia's High Court. But the High Court denied the application, which leaves the Federal Court ruling, and a $2.4 million fine, to stand as the final decision on the four-year-old matter.
"This important precedent confirms the ACCC’s view that overseas-based companies selling to Australian consumers must abide by our laws," ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said. "If customers buy a product online that is faulty, they are entitled to the same right to a repair, replacement or refund as if they’d walked in to a store."
The ACCC said there are 2.2 million Steam "subscriber accounts" in Australia. There are roughly 5.5 billion dollars in Gabe Newell's pocket, according to Forbes.
