Valve updates Steam Subscriber Agreement, adds no sue clause

Posted By | On 01st, Aug. 2012

So now you cannot sue Valve, Sony or EA if they mess up and you somehow fall in deep trouble. Of course, you are given an option to not accept the agreement, but who can do that when Steam is such a vital service? Valve issued a statement regarding this change on the Steam website.

Supreme court recently passed a law where it was OK for companies to add such, what I believe, anti-consumer clauses to their subscriber agreements. So what Valve is doing is entirely in their right to do so, but is it morally right? It’s up to you to decide.

You can read the full thing below:

Every so often we need to update the Steam Subscriber Agreement (“SSA”) and Valve’s Privacy Policy. These documents are the terms to which you (and all Steam users) agreed when first creating an account. Whenever we need to make changes to these agreements we like to bring the changes to your attention and explain why they’re necessary. The next time you log in to Steam you’ll be asked to read and agree to the new terms.

This time around there are a number of changes reflected in both documents including the opening of a new Valve office in Luxembourg to better serve our EU customers and partners. If you live in the EU, your SSA will be with our Luxembourg subsidiary Valve S.a.r.l. and the SSA has been amended to reflect additional terms specific to our EU customers. We’ve added other terms related to the Steam Wallet and Steam trading to accommodate new features and capabilities of Steam.

We’re also introducing a new dispute resolution process that will benefit you and Valve. Recently, a number of companies have created similar provisions which have generated lots of discussion from customers and communities, and we’ve been following these discussions closely. On Steam, whenever a customer is unhappy with any transaction, our first goal is to resolve things as quickly as possible through the normal customer support process. However in those instances in which we can’t resolve a dispute, we’ve outlined a new required process whereby we agree to use arbitration or small claims court to resolve the dispute. In the arbitration process, Valve will reimburse your costs of the arbitration for claims under a certain amount. Reimbursement by Valve is provided regardless of the arbitrator’s decision, provided that the arbitrator does not determine the claim to be frivolous or the costs unreasonable.

Most significant to the new dispute resolution terms is that customers may now only bring individual claims, not class action claims. We considered this change very carefully. It’s clear to us that in some situations, class actions have real benefits to customers. In far too many cases however, class actions don’t provide any real benefit to users and instead impose unnecessary expense and delay, and are often designed to benefit the class action lawyers who craft and litigate these claims. Class actions like these do not benefit us or our communities. We think this new dispute resolution process is faster and better for you and Valve while avoiding unnecessary costs, and that it will therefore benefit the community as a whole.

Thanks for reading through our thoughts on these updates and for your continued use of Steam.

Outraged, or simply don’t have any issue with this? Tell us in the comments section below.


Tagged With: , ,

Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Share Your Thoughts Below  (Always follow our comments policy!)



Keep On Reading!

Dead Island 2 Surpasses 10 Million Players

Dead Island 2 Surpasses 10 Million Players

The zombie-slaying first-person action RPG – available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC – crosses another majo...

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Receives Accolades Trailer Upon Release

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Receives Accolades Trailer Upon Release

The first-person shooter is available now for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC....

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart PS5 Pro Update Adds New Modes and Ray Tracing Options

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart PS5 Pro Update Adds New Modes and Ray Tracing Options

Fans of the action platformer can use new Performance Pro or Fidelity Pro modes on the PS5 Pro when it launche...

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 PS5 Pro Update is Live, New Modes and Toggles Detailed

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 PS5 Pro Update is Live, New Modes and Toggles Detailed

The update adds Performance Pro and Fidelity Pro for PS5 Pro players alongside toggles to fine-tune ray tracin...

Like a Dragon Gaiden Receives Time-Limited Trial on Steam Until October 28th

Like a Dragon Gaiden Receives Time-Limited Trial on Steam Until October 28th

Experience four hours of the side story for free on PC. It's discounted along with the rest of the franchise u...

Silent Hill 2 Remake Hotfix Addresses Labyrinth Progression Blocker, Adds Steam Cloud Support

Silent Hill 2 Remake Hotfix Addresses Labyrinth Progression Blocker, Adds Steam Cloud Support

Players who found themselves trapped in the location after patch 1.04 can now continue through the story thank...