Steam limits the total amount they can ever be required to pay you for any harm caused by their service to just $5. This applies even if you have spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on games and content.
Valve caps its total liability to any individual user at $5.00 USD regardless of how much money that user has spent on Steam or how significant the harm caused, leaving consumers with virtually no meaningful financial recourse for service failures or content loss.
Cross-platform context
See how other platforms handle Limitation of Liability and similar clauses.
Compare across platforms →Even if Steam's service failures cause you to lose access to a game library worth thousands of dollars, Valve's maximum legal liability to you is capped at $5 under this clause.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision implicates FTC Act Section 5 (unfair practices where a $5 liability cap effectively eliminates meaningful consumer recourse); California Consumer Legal Remedies Act Civil Code §1751 (which voids contract provisions limiting liability for consumer goods or services); EU Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair contract terms (Art. 3, where significant imbalance between parties' rights may render the clause unenforceable); and EU Digital Content Directive 2019/770 (which provides mandatory conformity remedies that a $5 liability cap cannot contractually override). Washington State Consumer Protection Act RCW 19.86 is also engaged.
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