5 ms·

Valve will refund any Steam purchase if made within 2 weeks and with less than 2 hours play time (see https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/ https://stor

Valve will refund any Steam purchase if made within 2 weeks and with less than 2 hours play time (see https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/ https://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/). Therefore this doesn't really change much when it comes to realization that the game sucks very early on. I suppose there is some small risk difference between "play 90 minutes for free, then decide to pay" vs "play 120 minutes for full game price, then get it back". But in my experience and from what I've heard over the years the refund policy is reliably honored.

Pet_Ant 3y ago
Honestly, I've always been too wary of playing 2.0001 hours and losing access. I like this system much better.
- ThatMedicIsASpy 3y ago
  You dont lose access. Just repeat the process to get a human review.
gabythenerd 3y ago
I have about 150 games in the backlog that I buy in sales to play later, when I don't like them after 30 minutes I just refund them. Steam has been pretty good with this, doesn't matter if I bought it months before, they will still refund them. I guess the demos would be better for Steam as they don't lose credit card fees.
- aaomidi 3y ago
  I think refunds don’t cost the company. Chargebacks do.
  - zamnos 3y ago
    Refunds don't generally get the fees returned, so I buy a game for $10, $0.30 in fees goes to Paypal, Steam gets $9.70. I return the game, Steam gives me $10, but PayPal only gives them $9.70, so they're out $0.30. Across a million returns that adds up.
- vorvac 3y ago
  Anecdotally, I've had this experience lately: "We will not be granting a refund at this time. The date of the purchase exceeds 2 weeks (our refund policy maximum)."
  - DANmode 3y ago
    Interesting. How much was the game in this anecdote?
whartung 3y ago
> Valve will refund any Steam purchase if made within 2 weeks and with less than 2 hours play time Yea, I tried to take advantage of this when I picked up Stellaris, but that's not a game (I don't think) that you can evaluate in 2 hours. I gave it a couple of stabs, but found it just way more complex than I was interested it. I obviously played it more than 2 hours, and they wouldn't refund my money. No harm, no foul, but for some games, 2 hours isn't enough.
- bityard 3y ago
  We must be very different people... If a game or movie doesn't grab my attention within the first 15 minutes, it goes in the round file. Life is too short for mediocre entertainment!
  - suddenclarity 3y ago
    Being complex and taking time to get into is quite different than being mediocre. Some games take hours to just grasp the rules and its first by the fourth or fifth time you're playing that they become amazing. It's like dunking on racing because a guy without license can't figure out how to change gear.
  - sieongioetnio 3y ago
    I don't have much use for mediocrity either, which is why I will always choose a flawed masterpiece over something merely competent. None of my favorite books have grabbed my attention in the first fifteen pages. Several of my favorite games took over 40 hours to become even tolerable. They made up for it by being uncommonly beautiful by the end. A slow start is a flaw, but in my eyes a forgivable one.
- 000ooo000 3y ago
  >2 hours isn't enough MS Flight Sim comes to mind. Apparently game content is downloaded in-game, and it's in the region of 120GB, so many folk blow through 2 hours before they even get to play the game.
  - 3y ago
willcipriano 3y ago
The only angle I see is now you don't need to distribute the game data with your pirated software. let the user download the trial and apply a patch to that.
- throwawaymobule 3y ago
  As a software pirate, I hate this idea, or anything like it. I can see this being useful to fill up a steam cache though, depending on how it works.

Pet_Ant 3y ago

Honestly, I've always been too wary of playing 2.0001 hours and losing access. I like this system much better.

ThatMedicIsASpy 3y ago
You dont lose access. Just repeat the process to get a human review.

gabythenerd 3y ago

I have about 150 games in the backlog that I buy in sales to play later, when I don't like them after 30 minutes I just refund them. Steam has been pretty good with this, doesn't matter if I bought it months before, they will still refund them. I guess the demos would be better for Steam as they don't lose credit card fees.

aaomidi 3y ago
I think refunds don’t cost the company. Chargebacks do.
- zamnos 3y ago
  Refunds don't generally get the fees returned, so I buy a game for $10, $0.30 in fees goes to Paypal, Steam gets $9.70. I return the game, Steam gives me $10, but PayPal only gives them $9.70, so they're out $0.30. Across a million returns that adds up.
vorvac 3y ago
Anecdotally, I've had this experience lately: "We will not be granting a refund at this time. The date of the purchase exceeds 2 weeks (our refund policy maximum)."
- DANmode 3y ago
  Interesting. How much was the game in this anecdote?

whartung 3y ago

> Valve will refund any Steam purchase if made within 2 weeks and with less than 2 hours play time Yea, I tried to take advantage of this when I picked up Stellaris, but that's not a game (I don't think) that you can evaluate in 2 hours. I gave it a couple of stabs, but found it just way more complex than I was interested it. I obviously played it more than 2 hours, and they wouldn't refund my money. No harm, no foul, but for some games, 2 hours isn't enough.

bityard 3y ago
We must be very different people... If a game or movie doesn't grab my attention within the first 15 minutes, it goes in the round file. Life is too short for mediocre entertainment!
- suddenclarity 3y ago
  Being complex and taking time to get into is quite different than being mediocre. Some games take hours to just grasp the rules and its first by the fourth or fifth time you're playing that they become amazing. It's like dunking on racing because a guy without license can't figure out how to change gear.
- sieongioetnio 3y ago
  I don't have much use for mediocrity either, which is why I will always choose a flawed masterpiece over something merely competent. None of my favorite books have grabbed my attention in the first fifteen pages. Several of my favorite games took over 40 hours to become even tolerable. They made up for it by being uncommonly beautiful by the end. A slow start is a flaw, but in my eyes a forgivable one.
000ooo000 3y ago
>2 hours isn't enough MS Flight Sim comes to mind. Apparently game content is downloaded in-game, and it's in the region of 120GB, so many folk blow through 2 hours before they even get to play the game.
- 3y ago

willcipriano 3y ago

The only angle I see is now you don't need to distribute the game data with your pirated software. let the user download the trial and apply a patch to that.

throwawaymobule 3y ago
As a software pirate, I hate this idea, or anything like it. I can see this being useful to fill up a steam cache though, depending on how it works.