Valve to start offering 14day/2hr playtime refunds for all Steam games

[Subyman]

This is a good move. I've purchased some indie games that ran like garbage and it will be nice to be able to get reimbursed.

 

[BFG10K]

Credit where credit is due - this is a great customer-centric move.

Good. And thanks to Ubisoft for this. I'm sure their refund policy pushed Valve in this direction.

LOL, I think you mean GOG. :awe:

 

[clok1966]

Cant believe people think this should include early access, how can you want a refund on a game that is UNFINISHED and buggy when its clearly stated that its Unfinished and buggy and early access. Its a bit like ordering Ice cream and saying its to cold, of course its COLD. You should have waited on purchasing till it was supposedly "done", then you could have a valid complaint if it didn't work, or was missing promised features.

As for any company to thank, doubtful, this has been coming a long time in many European countries (courts where discussing and passing some rules on this almost 4 years ago), a couple of Companies jumped early to swing the PR machine in a good way. But complying with a rule you know you will have to comply with in a few months down the road early is not a big "we changed the world" move. Valve just did it when it had too, EA did it 6-8 months before (and only on their titles, not all titles), expect EA to follow on all titles soon if they want to sell in specific countries where this is required.

 

[TeknoBug]

Fat chance. I tried this and their support page basically says buzz off we don't support early access games. I even put in a ticket. It flat out tells you that early access games require going to the publisher.

This so-called "new" refund policy is turning out to be a cluster.

OMG really? lol jeez

Well I only have 47 minutes on one of them and bought it like a week ago, going to see if it works.

 

[exar333]

Cant believe people think this should include early access, how can you want a refund on a game that is UNFINISHED and buggy when its clearly stated that its Unfinished and buggy and early access. Its a bit like ordering Ice cream and saying its to cold, of course its COLD. You should have waited on purchasing till it was supposedly "done", then you could have a valid complaint if it didn't work, or was missing promised features.

As for any company to thank, doubtful, this has been coming a long time in many European countries (courts where discussing and passing some rules on this almost 4 years ago), a couple of Companies jumped early to swing the PR machine in a good way. But complying with a rule you know you will have to comply with in a few months down the road early is not a big "we changed the world" move. Valve just did it when it had too, EA did it 6-8 months before (and only on their titles, not all titles), expect EA to follow on all titles soon if they want to sell in specific countries where this is required.

Great post.

I am hoping a more or less universal adoption of this policy from all major online vendors will drive better quality releases. Companies will now be held accountable for poorly-coded, broken, or misrepresented games.

Imagine if this was in-place when Aliens: Colonel Marines was released?

 

[KeithTalent]

Fat chance. I tried this and their support page basically says buzz off we don't support early access games. I even put in a ticket. It flat out tells you that early access games require going to the publisher.

This so-called "new" refund policy is turning out to be a cluster.

Why would you get a refund for an early access games? Are those not essentially betas? I've never purchased one, so not really sure, but I have not bought them because I assumed they were not yet complete.

KT

 

[Tweak155]

A welcomed change. Will probably get me to buy more.

 

[Subyman]

I'm of two minds on the EA refunding policy. On one hand it is unfinished, as others have said, so of course there will be issues, but on the other hand, if the company misrepresented what was currently available in the game then there should be some recourse.

 

[Newbian]

Cant believe people think this should include early access, how can you want a refund on a game that is UNFINISHED and buggy when its clearly stated that its Unfinished and buggy and early access. Its a bit like ordering Ice cream and saying its to cold, of course its COLD. You should have waited on purchasing till it was supposedly "done", then you could have a valid complaint if it didn't work, or was missing promised features.

The thing is 10 years ago or so they let people do free beta tests and now you pay to do the exact same thing.

Either way a refund should apply to these also as you charge for the game people should have the right to get a refund if the game is not how they want it and maybe this will get some devs off their asses and actually fix things as too many people hide behind that shield and never get around to doing anything.

Even more so as some games charge full price in the beta version and live and it's funny to see some charging $40+ on day 1 yet expect you to suffer for 2+ years.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

good policy especially since there aren't any demos anymore. most f the time you're buying blind except for some game play videos/trailers. especially for some aaa releases. i never bought it but a lot of people got burned by Brink.

 

[ronbo613]

One step in the right direction. It might take 14 days for Steam's top notch customer service to respond to a refund request.

 

[Man I Suck]

Why would you get a refund for an early access games? Are those not essentially betas? I've never purchased one, so not really sure, but I have not bought them because I assumed they were not yet complete.

KT

I paid money for something that has been neglected for years. The promises that were made have gone unfulfilled. I want my money back because I was lied to, not because it's early access. I'm an early access junkie. I'm not asking for money back for 7Days to Die or Reign of Kings or Unturned or Space Engineers or any of the billion other early access games I bought.

I want a refund for DayZ Standalone for specific reasons that are given as valid reasons for refunds for other games.

 

[Nebor]

2 hours sounds reasonable. There are several games I barely put 2 hours in and never went back (Looking at you, Operation Flashpoint-Dragon Rising!)

That's one of those that makes you feel incompetent for not liking it. It all seems so cool. Then it's like, "is every god damn Chinese soldier a sniper?! How is this happening?!"

 

[Nebor]

I'm not a big fan of this change. As someone who purchases games exclusively from Steam, this will likely cause me to purchase fewer games.

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm not a big fan of this change. As someone who purchases games exclusively from Steam, this will likely cause me to purchase fewer games.

Why is that? I don't really understand why this would cause anyone to purchase fewer games.

KT

 

[gorcorps]

I'm not a big fan of this change. As someone who purchases games exclusively from Steam, this will likely cause me to purchase fewer games.

Why is that? I don't really understand why this would cause anyone to purchase fewer games.

KT

I'm curious too. For somebody who wouldn't make use the policy, nothing changes.

 

[Man I Suck]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/06/valve-begins-offering-refunds-for-all-steam-games/

"What's more, games that fall outside that 14 day/two play-hour range can still be submitted for a refund request, and Valve says it will "take a look.""

Oh, is that so?

I just got this reply from Valve:

A staff member has replied to your question:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Steam.

If you would like to request a refund for any reason, you can do so at https://help.steampowered.com/

If your request is made within fourteen days of purchase and the title has been played for less than two hours, you are eligible for a refund.

If you are unable to request a refund, this means that the purchase you have selected does not qualify for refunds.

What a bunch of lying assholes.

 

[Wardawg1001]

Oh, is that so?

I just got this reply from Valve:



What a bunch of lying assholes.

Reply to what? It doesn't sound like you actually requested a refund. What was your question to them?

If you read the full Valve announcement about the new refund program, they clearly state that there are certain purchases that simply do not qualify for refunds under any circumstances, so the statement " If you are unable to request a refund, this means that the purchase you have selected does not qualify for refunds" is not a lie by any means, until you supply some context around your request/question.

 

[MustISO]

Maybe they should just let you play any game you want for 2 hours and then if you want to keep playing you can pay for the game. They could limit it to maybe 2 per month but that would be a good way to be able to try the game and then decide if you wanted to keep it.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Cant believe people think this should include early access, how can you want a refund on a game that is UNFINISHED and buggy when its clearly stated that its Unfinished and buggy and early access. Its a bit like ordering Ice cream and saying its to cold, of course its COLD. You should have waited on purchasing till it was supposedly "done", then you could have a valid complaint if it didn't work, or was missing promised features.

As for any company to thank, doubtful, this has been coming a long time in many European countries (courts where discussing and passing some rules on this almost 4 years ago), a couple of Companies jumped early to swing the PR machine in a good way. But complying with a rule you know you will have to comply with in a few months down the road early is not a big "we changed the world" move. Valve just did it when it had too, EA did it 6-8 months before (and only on their titles, not all titles), expect EA to follow on all titles soon if they want to sell in specific countries where this is required.

If they are collecting money for the game at bare minimum it should run.

 

[werepossum]

2 hours sounds reasonable. There are several games I barely put 2 hours in and never went back (Looking at you, Operation Flashpoint-Dragon Rising!)

Agreed, that's highly reasonable. I too hope it doesn't get abused.

 

[Raduque]

I wonder if I could get a refund for The Evil Within. That game sucks and runs terrible. Sadly, I bought it back in December. 43 minutes of play time.

 

[Man I Suck]

Reply to what? It doesn't sound like you actually requested a refund. What was your question to them?

I already posted that I did request a refund. I've posted repeatedly about my experience during the process. Read the thread.

 

[Imp]

2 hours sounds reasonable. There are several games I barely put 2 hours in and never went back (Looking at you, Operation Flashpoint-Dragon Rising!)

I remember that game being really short... The timer in my Steam account says 3 hours, and I'm pretty sure I finished it.


Nice policy. Would make it easier to give up rather than waste time trying to fix a bug. If it was available then, I probably would have used it on CoD: Ghosts and Enemy Front -- both BSOD'd my machine repeatedly.

 

[MeldarthX]

Origin / EA did something good? No way! Unbelievable.

Oh they did; and btw EU did sue Steam over this and steam lost badly in the courts.