Valve is changing its refund system on Steam for the first time in eight years. A while back, the company introduced an easy-go-lucky refund system on Steam where users could request a refund on any game within 14 days of purchase as long as they hadn’t played it for more than two hours.
However, due to programs such as Early Access and Advanced Access, users found a loophole in this system. As these games weren’t technically released yet, gamers would play for hours and hours ahead of the official “launch” and still request a refund.
This resulted in many gamers basically completing games and even throwing hundreds of hours of game time into Early Access games only to refund the title. This is because Steam didn’t count Early Access and Advanced Access game time against the overall refund terms,
That is now changing. Valve has updated its refund policy to now cover Early Access and Advanced Access game time. So if you play more than two hours of an Early Access game, you won’t be able to refund it. The new terms read:
REFUNDS ON TITLES PURCHASED PRIOR TO RELEASE DATE When you purchase a title on Steam prior to the release date, the two-hour playtime limit for refunds will apply (except for beta testing), but the 14-day period for refunds will not start until the release date. For example, if you purchase a game that is in Early Access or Advanced Access, any playtime will count against the two-hour refund limit. If you pre-purchase a title which is not playable prior to the release date, you can request a refund at any time prior to release of that title, and the standard 14-day/two-hour refund period will apply starting on the game’s release date.
Previously, this refund section only stated the following:
REFUNDS ON PRE-PURCHASED TITLES When you pre-purchase a title on Steam (and have paid for the title in advance), you can request a refund at any time prior to release of that title. The standard 14-day/two-hour refund period also applies, starting on the game’s release date.
You can see now that Valve will no longer let you haggle your way into a refund after playing early-access games for weeks and months. It should also help small developers tackle cashflow on Early Access projects.
