The Tribunal de grande instance de Paris, the High Court of Paris, has ruled that European citizens must be free to resell video games purchased digitally on Steam, just as they can for classic titles physically purchased in stores. Steam, owned by Valve, is the largest online distributor of computer video games and operates essentially under a monopoly regime, having no competitors of comparable size.
The sentence was handed down following a lawsuit brought by the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir. Steam had claimed to provide a subscription service, but according to the Paris judges, things work differently, considering that the platform gives the possibility to download a video game entirely and keep it in your files. The laws of the European Union state that all goods, including software, can be resold. The ruling therefore says that Steam customers must be able to resell their single copy of the video game they purchased and has given Valve three months to comply. The company has announced that it intends to appeal, so the times will be significantly longer.
