Steam’s robust refund policy is definitely one of the best in the video game industry. Players are treated not as mere customers but as actual people, with Valve, though having clearly defined policies, usually treating its refund cases on a case-by-case basis. But that doesn’t mean folks don’t abuse the system.
The schtick is as follows: if you have less than two hours in a game and it hasn’t been more than 14 days since you bought it, you’re eligible for a full refund, more or less no questions asked. Now the problem starts when you’re an indie developer making a short game, or one meant to be replayed several times, with people easily beating it under two hours and refunding the purchase.
Zoroarts, an indie developer behind the game Paddle Paddle Paddle, spoke out on X about how people are actively refunding their game after completing it in an hour and a half or so and then proceed to publicly brag about it in the refunds. “This should not be possible,” the dev wrote, imploring Valve to revisit its refund policy to prevent beaten games from being eligible.
“Got dozens of reviews like that and a 21 percent refund rate even though the reviews are 90 percent very positive,” they added, explaining how that accounts for over 55,000 refunds so far, which, if we are going by the game’s current Steam price of $2.99, is some $164,450 left on the table (or rather, taken from it).
If a game managed to sell even better or for an even higher price (this game itself usually runs for $4.99, meaning it probably lost even more money than I had calculated), this can be potentially devastating. Not every developer is keen on making huge, replayable games, and sometimes these smaller experiences are a great starting point for avid devs who are still honing their craft.
While I generally love Steam and Valve and their many consumer-friendly policies, the pair are known for a lot of loopholes and a laid-back stance on what happens on their platform. However, they’ve recently started being more prudent and active, so I hope they eventually revisit their refund policies and start identifying the bits nefarious users are taking advantage of to hurt small studios and devs.
