Valve Cracks Down On Steam Refund Loophole: What Gamers Should Know
Valve offers a rather generous return policy on its Steam platform, which allows players to return games for a refund within two weeks (14 days) of purchase and with less than two hours of play time logged. As Valve plainly states on its refund page, "it doesn't matter" if the reason is because a PC doesn't meet a game's system requirements or if someone purchased a title by mistake. As long as the request is made within 14 days of purchase and falls within the less-than-two-hour playtime window, Valve will likely honor it. However, Valve just introduced a key change that affects gaming grifters.
The new terms effectively close a loophole that previously allowed gamers to request refunds after spending several hours or even days in a game before its official launch.
"Today we have updated a portion of our Refund Policy regarding pre-purchased titles. This change covers titles that are in pre-purchase and offer 'Advanced Access'. Playtime acquired during the Advanced Access period will now count towards the Steam refund period," Valve states.
Something that's become common is game publishers offering players who preorder deluxe editions of an upcoming game advanced access before it launches to the general public. Not to be confused with early access, advanced access is a perk that publishers sometimes attach to pricier versions of a title above the base standard version. So for example if an upcoming game is set to release on Monday, May 6, players who preorder a deluxe or gold (or whatever) edition might gain access a few days early, such as Friday, May 3.
Previously, the advanced access period didn't count towards the two-hour window that players have to request a refund. In the example above, a player could spend an entire weekend playing a game, perhaps even finishing it, and then get their money back through Steam's refund process once the game launched on Monday. Sometimes, advanced access can even be a full week before a title releases to the general public.
That loophole was not in the spirit of Valve's flexible return policy. It's not clear exactly how widely it was abused, but it happened enough that Valve has decided to update its policy—going forward, the two-hour playtime clock applies to the advanced access period as well.
"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 explains.
"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," Valve adds.
In theory, Valve's updated refund terms could incentivize game publishers to offer an advanced access perk on more titles, as now they don't have to fear players gaming the system.
