This analysis describes what Steam's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The requirement for prior written consent from Valve covers a broad range of activities—including reverse engineering and decompilation—meaning users have no implied right to technically inspect or adapt Steam content.
Interpretive note: The excerpt contains an ellipsis, suggesting some language is omitted. The canonical claim captures the primary prohibition and the consent requirement but collapses the full enumerated list for brevity; the complete list is noted in omitted_material.
The updated agreement no longer explicitly discloses that Steam Wallet funds held by Japanese users will expire six months after being added, or that expiration dates can be reviewed in the Steam Wallet. The removal of this disclosure eliminates the transparency mechanism previously available to Japanese subscribers regarding fund expiration timelines and monitoring options. Japanese law may still impose expiration requirements on stored funds regardless of contractual disclosure, but the agreement no longer notifies users of this expiration mechanism.
View change record →You are prohibited from copying, reproducing, reverse engineering, modifying, decompiling, or otherwise altering Steam content in any way, in whole or in part, without first obtaining Valve's written consent.
How other platforms handle this
Customer may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of the output generated using an NVIDIA proprietary software development kit (e.g., NVIDIA CUDA toolkit), including their development tools and compilers.
You agree not to modify, display, adapt, translate, loan, distribute, prepare derivative works from, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise attempt to derive source code from the Software.
Send messages in violation of the USA CAN-SPAM Act or any other applicable anti-spam law.
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"You may not, in whole or in part, copy, photocopy, reproduce, publish, distribute, translate, reverse engineer, derive source code from, modify, disassemble, decompile, create derivative works based on, or remove any proprietary notices...without the prior consent, in writing, of Valve.— Excerpt from Steam's Steam Subscriber Agreement
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The requirement for prior written consent from Valve covers a broad range of activities—including reverse engineering and decompilation—meaning users have no implied right to technically inspect or adapt Steam content.
You are prohibited from copying, reproducing, reverse engineering, modifying, decompiling, or otherwise altering Steam content in any way, in whole or in part, without first obtaining Valve's written consent.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 284 platforms. See the full comparison.
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