Steam just dropped its forced arbitration policy, opening the door to lawsuits against parent company Valve. In an update on Thursday, Steam said its user agreement "now provides that any disputes will be heard in court rather than arbitration."
Many companies include mandatory arbitration clauses in their user agreements, waiving an individual's right to a trial in court. Arbitration is the resolution of disputes by an impartial third party outside the legal system. This method is generally faster, but may not yield the best results for consumers because the arbitrator only needs to rely on expertise and does not need to consider the law when making an award.
Many services include mandatory arbitration agreements in their terms of service, which people may not even read or fully understand. Disney recently sought to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit after a woman died after suffering an allergic reaction at a Disney World resort. The company argued that because the widower agreed to a forced arbitration policy when he signed up for Disney Plus, he had no standing to sue.
Previously, Steam's user agreement stated that "you and Valve agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us through binding individual arbitration" to resolve all disputes related to Steam, your account, hardware, or the company's content and services. The new agreement no longer mentions a binding arbitration policy.
Steam did not explain why it suddenly decided to remove the mandatory arbitration clause. As 404Media points out, a group of plaintiffs recently challenged Valve's forced arbitration policy and filed a class-action lawsuit over Steam's dominance.