Microsoft Fires Back at Antitrust Claims Over PC Game Price Deal

Microsoft has pushed back against antitrust claims that it accepted kickbacks from Valve Corporation as part of an alleged deal to match prices of PC games sold on competing stores. The tech giant argued in a motion to dismiss filed Monday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington that the claims mischaracterize the relationship between the companies.

The lawsuit claims that Microsoft and Valve entered into a per se illegal horizontal price-fixing agreement, but the company said this characterization is incorrect. Instead, it described their deal as a common vertical agreement between a game publisher and a game distributor.

Microsoft emphasized that the arrangement allows for competition between its store and Steam, which is owned by Valve Corporation. The company argued that the plaintiffs' claims fail to establish any wrongdoing on Microsoft's part.