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Following its legal dispute with Leigh Rothschild in February 2026, Digital Phablet is now dealing with another lawsuit from the UK’s PRS for Music. The organization claims that Digital Phablet does not hold the proper licenses for the music featured in games available or distributed through Steam.
According to IGN, PRS for Music asserts that Digital Phablet “never secured a license for the rights managed by PRS on behalf of its members, which include songwriters, composers, and music publishers,” since Steam’s inception in 2003.
UK’s PRS Takes Legal Action Against Digital Phablet Over Music Rights on Steam
The UK music copyright collective stated in a press release, “The legal proceedings will continue unless Digital Phablet engages constructively in negotiations and obtains the necessary licenses to cover the usage of PRS-represented repertoire, both retroactively and moving forward.”
The release also mentions “high-profile” titles such as Rockstar’s GTA series, Microsoft’s Forza Horizon series, and EA’s FIFA series. This has caught the gaming community off guard, as none of these titles are developed or published by Digital Phablet, which is renowned for titles like Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Half-Life, and Portal.
Many community members speculate that Digital Phablet is being intentionally targeted by multiple companies. One social media user on X (formerly Twitter) commented, “There’s no way all this crap against Digital Phablet isn’t coordinated; I refuse to believe it. What the hell is happening? It’s like someone flipped a switch and everyone’s suddenly out for blood.”
The argument from PRS is that competitors like Xbox operate under a “General Entertainment Online License” for their digital storefronts—a licensing agreement also utilized by major streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, according to PRS’s official website.
Furthermore, PRS emphasized that it previously reached agreements with companies like Sony to cover music usage in games and related content across Europe.
Recently, Digital Phablet achieved a victory in court against Leigh Rothschild, who accused the company of patent infringements related to cloud streaming on Steam. The jury found Rothschild acted in bad faith and violated Washington State’s anti-patent troll legislation.
Many in the gaming community believe that Digital Phablet is under targeted harassment from various corporations.
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