Steam has one of the most accessible refund policies for gamers, as it allows you to return a title very easily as long as some conditions are met. Despite this, part of the community has taken advantage of the system in various ways and, of course, Valve is not happy about it.
For this reason, the company recently decided to make some adjustments to its refund policy with one goal: to address a loophole that players have been taking advantage of for years. Due to the adjustments, it will now be impossible to do so.
Steam reinforces refund policy to avoid user abuses
Steam grants refunds as long as users initiate the process within 14 days of purchase. In addition, it is essential that they have not enjoyed the title to be returned for more than 2 hours. Although these policies are clear and accessible to players, part of the community has abused the system with games debuting in early access or advanced access.
Both options allow you to enjoy a title before its official release. The issue is that game time accumulated through these means was not counted towards the refund policy. Players were using this loophole to play for many hours and subsequently request a refund.
Valve realized this and decided to adjust their policy for obvious reasons. As a result, game time accumulated in early access or advanced access will be counted towards the 2 hour limit for refunding a title. It is important to mention that this will only apply to game time and not to the days limit for requesting a refund.
“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,” Valve explained.
The change is in favor of developers and the platform; however, surely one or another player who was taking advantage of the loophole will not be happy with this adjustment. What do you think of the change? Let us know in the comments.
Comments
Best
New