Valve Updates Steam Return Policy and Closes Popular Loophole

Users looking to return a game on Steam may have a slightly more difficult time, as Valve recently updated the service’s refund policy to close a popular loophole involving “advanced access” titles. Steam is one of the biggest digital game retailers, offering customers a massive selection of PC titles that run the gamut from the latest triple-A releases to smaller indie fare. Of course, not everyone is going to be happy with their purchases, and Steam allows users to refund their games within 14 days of buying them, as long as they have only been played for less than two hours.

This limitation is meant to prevent users from playing an entire game before returning it on Steam for a full refund, which would essentially be playing said game for free. This has raised some questions in the past from indie developers who create games that run shorter than the two-hour time limit. Some users have even managed to find a loophole in the two-day playtime limit for returning games on Steam, at least when it comes to pre-release “Early Access” or “Advance Access” titles. Playtime acquired during these pre-launch periods originally didn’t count until the game’s official release, but this has now changed.

Earlier this week, Valve announced that it has amended Steam’s refund policy to account for playtime hours accumulated during a game’s “Advanced Access” period. As explained on Steam’s webpage, said playtime will now count toward the two-hour refund limit, except when it comes to beta testing. On the other hand, the 14-day refund window won’t begin until the game is released in full, and these changes only apply to games that are playable before their official release date. The two-hour/14-day refund limit won’t start for pre-orders until the game in question launches.

Steam’s Refund Policy Has Been Updated

Steam has made some exceptions in the past regarding its refund policy, at least in extreme cases where a game launches with countless bugs and glitches that render the title practically unplayable. Such an instance came with the PC port of The Last of Us, which had frustratingly long load times that forced unfortunate customers to wait over an hour before getting to play the game at all. As a result, Steam allowed users to refund The Last of Us even if they played more than two hours.

Most refund cases aren’t this severe, with Steam users simply not enjoying the game they purchased. In instances like this, they have 14 days to request a refund from Steam, and they can only play the game for less than two hours. This latter stipulation has been reinforced for Steam’s “Advance Access” program, which typically allows players to try out participating games ahead of their official release date.

Steam

Steam is a digital video game storefront and program developed by Valve that allows gamers to purchase, play, and mod their titles all through one convenient program.

Brand

Valve

Original Release Date

September 12, 2003

Original MSRP (USD)

N/A

Weight

N/A