Steam Tightens Rules to Prevent Refund Manipulation

Steam has closed a loophole in its refund policy that would let certain gamers get refunds for titles they had played for more than two hours. But how has the refund policy changed and who will it affect?

Steam Updates Refund Policy

Those familiar with how to refund a game on Steam will be aware of two major rules: you can’t have owned the game for more than 14 days and you can’t have played more than two hours in order to qualify for the refund.

But there was a loophole: Advanced Access games. These games are different to Early Access games, which involves purchasing a game while it is still in development to access early builds. Rather, Advanced Access allows those who have pre-purchased a game to play the game prior to its release date.

Advanced Access is usually part of deluxe editions of games or pre-purchase bonuses—it is essentially a perk for game customers.

This is where the refund loophole came in. Advanced Access hours weren’t counted as part of your total hours played, which would allow users to get refunds for games they had spent considerable hours in.

Steam announced on 24 April that this would change. In a Steam blog post , the company stated:

“Playtime acquired during the Advanced Access period will now count towards the Steam refund period.”

The change, however, does not apply to beta testing.

Advanced Access has previously been included with games like Starfield. In addition to allowing you to play a game before its release date, Advanced Access also lets you post a Steam review before the game’s launch.

How The New Refund Policy Will Affect You

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If you don’t really pre-purchase games with Advanced Access or pay for the perk as part of an enhanced edition, nothing really changes for you.

However, if Advanced Access is something you would use, you will need to be a lot more cautious with your playtime if you want to get a refund. While the change prevents players from taking advantage of the Advanced Access period, it might annoy those whose early playtime is filled with server errors and bugs.

Personally, I’m not a fan of pre-ordering games due to quality issues at launch, even for AAA titles. But with Advanced Access and other early play access being increasingly marketed as part of game launches, Steam players should be aware that their playtime during these periods may disqualify them from getting a refund.

If you’re like me, this is another reason to avoid pre-ordering games. But as a popular perk, the new refund policy is something players should keep in mind when playing a game before its launch.