Players exploiting Steam’s refund policy to get free games, developer claims
Finished the game in less than two hours? Great! Here’s your refund.
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- The developer of Paddle Paddle Paddle saw a 21% refund rate (over 55,000 refunds) because players were able to finish the game within Steam's 2-hour refund window.
- While the developer blames Steam's lenient refund policy, some users argue the real issue is that the game is too short.
- Zoroarts proposed adding an estimated playtime to the game's Steam page, so buyers can make an informed decision upfront.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
A developer has called on Steam to address its refund policy after 1 in 5 players of his bite-sized game asked for a refund despite overwhelmingly positive reviews.
Steam, a digital distribution platform for computer games, has been asked to change its refund policy due to users abusing it.
Zoroarts, the creator of the game Paddle Paddle Paddle, revealed that, due to Steam’s refund policy, the game’s return rate is 21% despite 90% of the reviews being positive.
The players were able to play, finish the game, and receive the refund. According to the developer, more than 55,000 refunds were issued.
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Zoroarts also added an image of a review, sharing that it's a “great game” and that the player finished it in less than 2 hours, so they received a refund, as the platform’s policy allows returns within this time frame.
Currently, the game is on sale for $3 instead of $5.
Steam refund policy
According to Steam’s refund policy, users can receive a refund for any other downloadable content (DLC), such as a game or software, if it’s returned within 14 days of purchase and hasn’t been used for more than 2 hours since purchase.
“So long as the DLC has not been consumed, modified, or transferred,” concluded Steam.
The platform’s return policy seems quite lenient, stating that users “can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam – for any reason.”
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The company provided a few examples of why users might want to return the product: “Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake. Maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it.”
Nevertheless, the company noted that if users are abusing refunds, the platform “may stop offering them.”
Loophole to get free games, or is it just not worth the money?
The creator shared that the game was designed to offer around 4 hours of gameplay.
While some users spend between 5 and 20 hours playing the game, it was also “played by a lot of speedrunners and just really good gamers who made it in 1-2 hours,” noted the developer, adding that the game also received “many insulting comments with ‘Make a Game longer than 2 hours.’”
The game's creator also found a possible solution to avoid refunds by adding an estimated playtime on Steampage.
Users can decide whether to invest in the game based on the expected playtime and price.
“That way at least ‘Too short’ can not be a refund reason anymore,” wrote Zoroarts.
The situation started a discussion on X.
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“Why do people do that? I mean, first, your games aren't expensive; second, they liked the game; third, you aren't a big company,” wrote one user.
However, not all users agreed that the problem stems from Steam’s refund policy.
“You know the policy. You made a rage-based no-mercy game where people look to speed run it. The genre has an adversarial relationship with the player. Of course, if a player can finish before 2 hours, they will refund to dunk on you,” shared one netizen.
“I mean, technically, Steam does punish freeload refunders. The review might be a bit out there, but it doesn't represent the vast majority of users,” added another user.
