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Steam (Source - Steam)
Valve has now fixed a loophole regarding the Steam game refund policy amidst the recent trend of early access games. Players will now have to be careful while purchasing a game in early access to “try it out” as the gameplay time will now count towards the refund period.
Previously, the Steam refund policy stated, “When you pre-purchase a title on Steam (and have paid for the title in advance), you can request a refund at any time prior to release of that title. The standard 14-day/two-hour refund period also applies, starting on the game’s release date.”
Since most of the games are coming out in early access and are not considered a full release, players could issue a refund after playing for months. Many people were seemingly exploiting this loophole that prompted Valve to update the policy.
New refund policy
Now, the game time during the early access will count towards the refund time. Meaning, players who have played for over two hours of a game in early access will not be able to refund. This, however, does not apply to pre-purchase for games that cannot be played until full release.
The new policy by Valve has made it very clear. It says, “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.”
“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 further adds.
Most gamers seem quite supportive of this decision and said these changes should have been made much earlier, as early access is now just a tag that allows devs to add content in parts. Several games have now been in early access for years.