Valve's legal team is surely earning their paychecks these days. In late February, Valve was sued by New York with allegations that their loot box mechanics promoted illegal gambling and could get children addicted to gambling. Just earlier today, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Valve in Washington state that claims Valve has been "knowingly operating unlawful gambling through its loot box system."
In late January 2026, the greenlight was given for lawyer Vicki Shotbolt to sue Valve on behalf of 14 million Steam users in the United Kingdom. That lawsuit claims that Valve prevents publishers from selling their games more cheaply or earlier on rival platforms and that this alleged practice violates the UK's "anti-competitive prices" law.
Apparently three lawsuits in three months just wasn't enough, because there was another lawsuit filed against Valve this past week. This lawsuit is by the UK-based Performing Right Society (PRS). This new suit claims that Valve is using several of their members' works on Steam "without permission." The organization says that Valve "never obtained a license for its use of the rights managed by PRS on behalf of its members, comprising songwriters, composers, and music publishers."
PRS claims that "many game titles which incorporate PRS members' musical works are made available on Steam." According to GI.biz, some of the game franchises available on Steam that use PRS members' works without permission include Forza Horizon, EA's FIFA and FC soccer titles, and Grand Theft Auto.
PRS also claims that they made multiple attempts to work with Valve about the licensing issues. They say that over the course of "many years" they did not receive "appropriate engagement from Valve." With these attempts to work with Valve going nowhere, PRS has now issued legal proceedings against Valve "under the UK's s20 Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988." PRS hopes that this lawsuit will force Valve to obtain a license for any game that uses PRS members' works.
"The litigation will progress unless Valve Corporation engages positively with discussions and takes the necessary license to cover the use of PRS repertoire, both retrospectively and moving forwards," the organization said in a press statement.
Dan Gopal, chief commercial officer, PRS for Music said: "Our members create music that enhances experiences and PRS exists to protect the value of their work with integrity, transparency, and fairness. Legal proceedings are not a step we take lightly, but when a business’s actions undermine those principles, we have a duty to act.
"Great video games rely on great soundtracks, and the songwriters and creators behind them deserve to have their contribution recognised and fairly valued."
Dan Gopal, chief commercial officer, PRS for Music said: "Our members create music that enhances experiences and PRS exists to protect the value of their work with integrity, transparency, and fairness. Legal proceedings are not a step we take lightly, but when a business’s actions undermine those principles, we have a duty to act.
"Great video games rely on great soundtracks, and the songwriters and creators behind them deserve to have their contribution recognised and fairly valued."
