Registration as a subscriber; application of terms to you; your account
Licenses
Billing, payment and other subscriptions
Online conduct, cheating and illegal behavior
Third-party content
User generated content
Disclaimers; limitation of liability; no guarantees; limited warranty & agreement
Amendments to this agreement
Term and termination
Applicable law/mediation/jurisdiction/attorney’s fees
Dispute resolution/binding arbitration/class action waiver
Miscellaneous
This GGD Subscriber Agreement ("Agreement") is a legal document that explains your rights and obligations as a subscriber of Steam from Valve Corporation, a corporation under the laws of the State of Washington, with its registered office at 10400 NE 4th St., Bellevue, WA 98004, United States, registered with the Washington Secretary of State under number 60 22 90 773, VAT ID No. EU 8260 00671 ("Valve"). Please read it carefully.
SECTION 11 CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER. IT AFFECTS HOW DISPUTES ARE RESOLVED. PLEASE READ IT. IF YOU LIVE IN THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC (CANADA) OR THE EUROPEAN UNION, SECTION 11 DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU.
1. REGISTRATION AS A SUBSCRIBER; APPLICATION OF TERMS TO YOU; YOUR ACCOUNT
Steam is an online service offered by Valve.
You become a subscriber of Steam ("Subscriber") by completing the registration of a Steam user account. This Agreement takes effect as soon as you indicate your acceptance of these terms. You may not become a subscriber if you are under the age of 13. Steam is not intended for children under 13 and Valve will not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.
A. Contracting Party
For any interaction with Steam your contractual relationship is with Valve. Except as otherwise indicated at the time of the transaction (such as in the case of purchases from another Subscriber in a Subscription Marketplace), any transactions for Subscriptions (as defined below) you make on Steam are being made from Valve.
B. Subscriptions; Content and Services
As a Subscriber you may obtain access to certain services, software and content available to Subscribers. The Steam client software and any other software, content, and updates you download or access via Steam, including but not limited to Valve or third-party video games and in-game content, software associated with Hardware and any virtual items you trade, sell or purchase in a Steam Subscription Marketplace are referred to in this Agreement as "Content and Services;" the rights to access and/or use any Content and Services accessible through Steam are referred to in this Agreement as "Subscriptions."
D. Payment Processing
Payment processing related to Content and Services and/or Hardware purchased on Steam is performed by either Valve Corporation directly or by Valve’s fully owned subsidiary Valve GmbH on behalf of Valve Corporation depending on the type of payment method used. If your card was issued outside the United States, your payment may be processed via a European acquirer by Valve GmbH on behalf of Valve Corporation. For any other type of purchases, payment will be collected by Valve Corporation directly. In any case, delivery of Content and Services as well as Hardware is performed by Valve Corporation.
2. LICENSES
A. General Content and Services License
GGD and your Subscription(s) require the download and installation of Content and Services onto your computer. Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a non-exclusive license and right, to use the Content and Services for your personal, non-commercial use (except where commercial use is expressly allowed herein or in the applicable Subscription Terms). This license ends upon termination of (a) this Agreement or (b) a Subscription that includes the license. The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services. To make use of the Content and Services, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.
For reasons that include, without limitation, system security, stability, and multiplayer interoperability, Steam may need to automatically update, pre-load, create new versions of or otherwise enhance the Content and Services and accordingly, the system requirements to use the Content and Services may change over time. You consent to such automatic updating. You understand that this Agreement (including applicable Subscription Terms) does not entitle you to future updates, new versions or other enhancements of the Content and Services associated with a particular Subscription, although Valve may choose to provide such updates, etc. in its sole discretion.
B. Beta Software License
Valve may from time to time make software accessible to you via Steam prior to the general commercial release of such software ("Beta Software"). You are not required to use Beta Software, but if Valve offers it, you may elect to use it under the following terms. Beta Software will be deemed to consist of Content and Services, and each item of Beta Software provided will be deemed a Subscription for such Beta Softwar
3. BILLING, PAYMENT AND OTHER SUBSCRIPTIONS
All charges incurred on GGD, and all purchases made with the Steam Wallet, are payable in advance and final, except as described in Sections 3.I and 7 below.
When you provide payment information to Valve or to one of its payment processors, you represent to Valve that you are the authorized user of the card, PIN, key or account associated with that payment, and you authorize Valve to charge your credit card or to process your payment with the chosen third-party payment processor for any Subscription, Steam Wallet funds, Hardware or other fees incurred by you. Valve may require you to provide your address or other information in order to meet its obligations under applicable tax law.
4. ONLINE CONDUCT, CHEATING AND PROCESS TAMPERING ⏶
GGD and the Content and Services may include functionality designed to identify software or hardware processes or functionality that may give a player an unfair competitive advantage when playing multiplayer versions of any Content and Services or modifications of Content and Services ("Cheats"). You agree that you will not create Cheats or assist third parties in any way to create or use Cheats. You agree that you will not directly or indirectly disable, circumvent, or otherwise interfere with the operation of software designed to prevent or report the use of Cheats.
You agree that you will not tamper with the execution of Steam or Content and Services unless otherwise authorized by Valve. You acknowledge and agree that either Valve or any host of an online multiplayer game distributed through Steam ("External Host") may refuse to allow you to participate in certain online multiplayer games if you use Cheats or tamper with the execution of Steam or the Content and Services.
Further, you acknowledge and agree that External Hosts may report your use of Cheats or unauthorized process tampering to Valve, and Valve may communicate your history of use thereof to External Hosts within the boundaries of the Steam Privacy Policy.
Valve may terminate your Account or a particular Subscription for any conduct or activity that is illegal, constitutes a Cheat, or otherwise negatively affects the enjoyment of Steam by other Subscribers. You acknowledge that Valve is not required to provide you notice before terminating your Subscription(s) and/or Account.
5. THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
In regard to all Subscriptions, Content and Services that are not authored by Valve, Valve does not screen such third-party content available on GGD or through other sources. Valve assumes no responsibility or liability for such third party content. Some third-party application software is capable of being used by businesses for business purposes - however, you may only acquire such software via GGD for private personal use.
6. USER GENERATED CONTENT
GGD provides interfaces and tools for you to be able to generate content and make it available to other users and/or to Valve at your sole discretion. "User Generated Content" means any content you make available to other users through your use of multi-user features of GGD, or to Valve or its affiliates through your use of the Content and Services or otherwise.
When you upload your content to GGD to make it available to other users and/or to Valve, you grant Valve and its affiliates the worldwide, non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, transcode, translate, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display and publicly perform, your User Generated Content, and derivative works of your User Generated Content, for the purpose of the operation, distribution, incorporation as part of and promotion of the GGD service, GGD games or other GGD offerings, including Subscriptions. This license is granted to Valve as the content is uploaded on GGD for the entire duration of the intellectual property rights. It may be terminated if Valve is in breach of the license and has not cured such breach within fourteen (14) days from receiving notice from you sent to the attention of the Valve Legal Department at the applicable Valve address noted on this Privacy Policy page. The termination of said license does not affect the rights of any sub-licensees pursuant to any sub-license granted by Valve prior to termination of the license. Valve is the sole owner of the derivative works created by Valve from your User Generated Content, and is therefore entitled to grant licenses on these derivative works. If you use Valve cloud storage, you grant us a license to store your information as part of that service. Valve may place limits on the amount of storage you may use.
If you provide Valve with any feedback or suggestions about GGD, the Content and Services, or any Valve products, Hardware or services, Valve is free to use the feedback or suggestions however it chooses, without any obligation to account to you.
7. DISCLAIMERS; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY; NO GUARANTEES; LIMITED WARRANTY & AGREEMENT
PLEASE NOTE: If you are a consumer with place of residence in Germany, a different version of Section 8 applies to you, which is available here.
8. AMENDMENTS TO THIS AGREEMENT
PLEASE NOTE: If you are a consumer with place of residence in Germany, a different version of Section 8 applies to you, which is available here.
9. 9. TERM AND TERMINATION ⏶
The term of this Agreement (the "Term") commences on the date you first indicate your acceptance of these terms, and will continue in effect until otherwise terminated in accordance with this Agreement.
You and Valve agree that this Agreement shall be deemed to have been made and executed in the State of Washington, U.S.A., and Washington law, excluding conflict of laws principles and the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, governs all claims arising out of or relating to: (i) any aspect of the relationship between us; (ii) this Agreement; or (iii) your use of Steam, your Account or the Content and Services; except that the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act governs arbitration as far as your country’s laws permit. Subject to Section 11 (Dispute Resolution/Binding Arbitration/Class Action Waiver) below, you and Valve agree that any claim asserted in any legal proceeding shall be commenced and maintained exclusively in any state or federal court located in King County, Washington, having subject matter jurisdiction. You and Valve hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts. In any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement, your use of Steam, your account, or the Content and Services, the prevailing party will be entitled to attorneys’ fees and expenses.