PRS for Music Sues Valve Over Unlicensed Music on Steam

The UK's Performing Right Society has commenced legal proceedings against Valve Corporation, alleging the Steam platform has distributed games containing PRS-managed music without ever holding the required licence, a situation PRS claims has persisted since Steam launched in 2003.

PRS filed the proceedings in the UK on 4 March 2026, citing Section 20 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, which governs the "making available" or "communication to the public" right. Critically, PRS argues that this right sits with the organisation rather than with individual music publishers, meaning Valve carries its own licensing obligation as the platform operator distributing games that contain PRS members' works. The named examples in PRS's statement include EA SPORTS FC, Forza Horizon, and Grand Theft Auto, none of which are Valve titles; they are published by EA, Microsoft, and Rockstar respectively. The case is therefore a platform-level claim rather than a dispute with individual game developers or publishers.

Dan Gopal, Chief Commercial Officer at PRS for Music, said the organisation had exhausted the patience available for informal resolution. "Great video games rely on great soundtracks, and the songwriters and creators behind them deserve to have their contribution recognized and fairly valued," Gopal 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."

PRS stated it had "sought to license them for many years without appropriate engagement from Valve Corporation" before issuing proceedings. The organisation is seeking licences covering both retrospective use and future distributions, and says litigation will continue unless Valve engages and secures the necessary agreement. No damages figure has been disclosed; the action is structured as a demand for Valve to take a licence rather than a claim for a specific sum.

Valve has not issued a public statement in response to the proceedings.

The PRS action is the latest in a mounting pile of legal challenges for Valve. A UK tribunal gave the go-ahead in January 2026 to a £656 million collective action targeting Valve over alleged anti-competitive pricing practices on Steam, with Music Business Worldwide reporting that figure as USD $876 million and IGN placing it at $901 million based on differing exchange rate conversions. Separately, New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit alleging Valve illegally promotes gambling to children through loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2. Valve did claim a legal win recently, defeating a patent suit brought by Rothschild and associated companies.

PRS itself is navigating an internal transition: CEO Andrea Czapary Martin, who joined the organisation in June 2019, will step down at the end of 2026. How aggressively PRS pursues the Valve case through that leadership change remains to be seen, though the organisation's public posture leaves little ambiguity about its intentions.