Steam now allows full refunds for any reason—but there’s a catch

[Mr.Karizmatic]

 

In a major change of policy, Valve has decided to allow customers of their Steam store to request a refund for any game or DLC, no questions asked.

According to the official announcement, users are able to request a refund for any reason, be it discovering your computer isn’t powerful enough to run a game or simply realizing you don’t like it as much as you’d have hoped. Refunds are available for full-game purchases, pre-orders, and DLC purchased through Steam. Valve is also allowing refunds on in-game purchases made within their own games that have yet to be redeemed, but it’s up to third-party publishers to opt into the program and allow the same for microtransactions in their own titles.

Before you go thinking this means you can use Steam for a ton of free game rentals, there are a couple of major caveats to the policy. One, there’s a time limit on all refunds—both real-time and game time. You’ll have just 14 days from the initial date of purchase to request a refund, and you’re disqualified if you’ve put in more than two hours of playtime with the game. Two, Valve reserves the right to deny refunds to anyone that they feel are exploiting the system, which means it’s probably best to not go overboard with how often you ask for your money back.

A few other restrictions are in play as well. Getting VAC banned in a game removes your grounds for a refund, and gifts, movies, and keys purchased through a third-party retailer like Green Man Gaming are all ineligible for refunds.

For the rest of the details, you can read the full description straight from Valve.

[RedBaird]

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