Steam is finally getting a proper refund system. Starting today, users of Valve’s PC platform will be able to get a full refund on any game for any reason, provided it’s been less than 14 days since purchase and they have spent less than two hours playing.
You’ll be able to get your money back for DLC, bundles, and even pre-purchased games with this new system, which will make pre-orders feel like way less of a risk. (Once a pre-purchased game is out, Valve says the standard refund restrictions will apply.)
You can also get refunds on Steam Wallet funds, although they won’t be available for gifts, movies, or games purchased outside of Steam and used on the platform.
Also worth noting, via Valve’s FAQ:
Refunds are designed to remove the risk from purchasing titles on Steam — not as a way to get free games. If it appears to us that you are abusing refunds, we may stop offering them to you. We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price.
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Comments
10 responses to “Steam Is Now Offering Refunds”
What about the junk games that I bought recently (over 14 days ago) that doesn’t even work like Jedi Knight?
Apparently the gog version is alright though.
I’m pretty sure it only applies to purchases made after they implement the system. Otherwise they’d run the risk of having to refund millions of dollars worth of unplayed Steam sale games.
Damn. I grabbed The War Z before I realised the very nature of the shit sandwich I’d just purchased, then was out of the country for the short refund period. It’s not that I want my $14 back, I just want to get the fucker off my Steam list and I was hoping this might have been an avenue.
There is an option to hide games from your list, now! Which is very helpful to me, with all the bundled crap that bloats my account, not to mention regretware.
Regretware. The most truthful term for describing most of my Steam list!
I believe Steam will remove it from your library (or at least hide it from being shown) if you request it, but you will not be able to purchase it again, which from your comments, doesn’t sound like a possibility anyway.
Right click the game, set category and check the hidden box. It won’t appear unless you specifically select the hidden list.
Wonder how this would work for season passes? 14 days after the release of the game or 14 days after the first (or last) included DLC
I actually don’t know how DLC refunds will work. How can they know what you have played in the main game and what in the DLC. I would guess you could only get a refund on the last item of included DLC if you hadn’t played more than 2 hours of the game from the time the first bit was released.
Now to test the limits of the system by buying games we don’t agree with the politics of, post negative reviews about them as a legitimate game-owner, then get a refund and see if the review still stays! Or keep it up for the launch week to bomb their sales! Woo exploitation!
Seriously though. I’m sure The Law of Unintended Consequences will raise some doozies, but I think having a good refund system in place is worth the hassles that’ll come with it.