Late last week the long and drawn out court case between Valve and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) seemed to have come to an end, with the High Court of Australia rejecting the motion for special leave for appeals. In December of 2017, the Full Federal Court ruled that Valve had breached the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) when selling to Australian users, ruling that they must pay a $3 million dollar penalty.

Back in 2016, the trial judge had found that Valve “had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations to Australian customers about their rights under consumer guarantees.” While the company had appealed this decision to the Full Federal Court, the ruling stood, prompting another appeal to the Australian High Court.

The resulting ruling emphasises that Valve, and other companied like them, are bound by the ACL when dealing with Australian Companies, despite being based overseas. “This important precedent confirms the ACCC’s view that overseas-based companies selling to Australian consumers must abide by our laws. If customers buy a product online that is faulty, they are entitled to the same right to a repair, replacement or refund as if they’d walked in to a store,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.

This is not the only recent trouble for Valve, with the news that the Dutch Gaming Authority have potentially pointed the finger at Valve, among other companies, for their usage of loot boxes in popular games such as CS:GO and Dota 2. This ruling also has the potential to effect other companies that have refund and return practices not conforming to the ACL, such as Nintendo, though no word on any legal proceedings against them have been revealed at this time.