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Microsoft Seeks Dismissal of Gamers’ Antitrust Claims Over Valve Deal

By  |  August 12, 2026
Microsoft lawsuit

Microsoft Corp. is asking a federal court to throw out antitrust allegations that it participated in an unlawful arrangement with Valve Corp. to coordinate prices for PC games, arguing that the gamers bringing the case have incorrectly characterized an ordinary distribution relationship as horizontal price fixing.

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    Microsoft made the argument in a motion to dismiss filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, according to reporting by Bloomberg Law. The publication reported that the plaintiffs accuse Microsoft of accepting payments from Valve in connection with an alleged agreement to match prices for games offered through the companies’ competing digital storefronts.

    The dispute centers on how the relationship between Microsoft and Valve should be viewed under federal antitrust law. The gamers contend that the conduct amounts to a horizontal price-fixing arrangement, which can face particularly stringent treatment under the Sherman Act. Microsoft, however, says that description overlooks the commercial roles of the companies in the transaction.

    According to Bloomberg Law, Microsoft told the court that the arrangement at issue is instead a vertical distribution agreement involving Microsoft as a game publisher and Valve as a distributor. On that theory, Microsoft argues that the plaintiffs cannot establish the type of agreement between competitors that would support their claim of per se unlawful price fixing.

    Read more: UK Watchdog Investigates Microsoft Over AI-Linked Subscription Pricing

    That distinction could be significant to the case. Antitrust courts generally distinguish between horizontal agreements among competitors and vertical arrangements involving companies at different levels of a supply or distribution chain. Certain forms of horizontal price fixing can be treated as inherently unlawful, while vertical restrictions typically require a broader examination of their competitive effects.

    Microsoft’s dismissal request therefore attacks a central premise of the gamers’ case rather than merely disputing the alleged economic consequences of the arrangement. Bloomberg Law reported that the company maintains the plaintiffs have mischaracterized its relationship with Valve in attempting to plead a per se antitrust violation.

    The litigation adds another antitrust dispute to the legal scrutiny surrounding digital distribution markets, where platform operators, publishers and consumers increasingly clash over the rules governing how software is sold and priced.

    Bloomberg Law published its report on the Microsoft filing Aug. 11. The original report was written by senior reporter Katie Arcieri.

    Source:  Bloomberg Law