Valve Sued Over Steam Deck Feature

Valve has been named in a lawsuit over patent infringement, with regards to rumble, or haptic, technology used in their handheld console, the Steam Deck, as well as other hardware. Surprisingly this isn't the first time the Washington-based company has landed themselves into some hot water. Back in April 2021, the company was taken to court and sued by Wolfire Games in an antitrust lawsuit against Valve. The Wolfire Games lawsuit was over the 30% commission that developers were required to pay if they wanted to release their games on Steam.

The antitrust lawsuit is currently still ongoing and, in the meantime, Valve was able to release their own handheld gaming device, the Steam Deck, which had successfully sold over one million units by October 2022, nine months after its release in February of that year. It was also revealed that nearly 42% of owners of the Steam Deck, prefer using it over other similar platforms. The handheld device has proven to be a huge success and has created quite the thriving modding scene. It was even revealed that the Ukrainian military had been using the Steam Deck to remotely pilot drones.

 

However, that's only one side of the story and it would seem that Valve is facing the consequences of their actions in the form of a lawsuit against them by Immersion Corporation for multiple patent infringements. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Immersion Corporation, they specialize in developing haptic technology for gaming, automotive, and mobile devices. They also own multiple patents for their work and they are claiming that Valve has infringed on their patent for the rumble tech present in the Steam Deck.

Alongside the Steam Deck they are claiming that a multitude of Valve's other hardware and software infringe on their patents such the SteamVR software, Valve Index VR headset and even Half Life: Alyx. The lawsuit was first spotted on 15 May 2023 by The Verge, and was filed with a federal court in Washington state and lists seven patents that Valve has allegedly infringed upon. The hardware developer has asked for an injunction that would stop Valve from deploying, operating, maintaining, testing, and using any of their patented technology.

Immersion Corporation has also asked that Valve pay for damages as well as outstanding royalties. Currently as of writing, 17 May 2023, Valve has yet to officially respond to the lawsuit. However, if their track record is anything to go by, it is highly likely that Valve will simply settle the lawsuit, unless it shown that the Steam Deck did not entirely infringe of Immersion Corporation's patents.

Daman Shelley (@UndeadandTired)
Editor, NoobFeed