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[Draugoth]

Eight years ago, Valve began offering no-questions-asked refunds for any game you buy on Steam — as long as you asked for that refund within 14 days of purchase and hadn’t played more than two hours of a game.

But when Valve started letting you play games ahead of their release dates with its “Early Access” and “Advanced Access” programs, it introduced a loophole: people could play for many, many hours ahead of launch and still request a refund after.

Today, Valve’s closing the loophole: Your Advanced Access and Early Access playtime now counts against the two-hour refund limit.

REFUNDS ON TITLES PURCHASED PRIOR TO RELEASE DATE
When you purchase a title on Steam prior to the release date, the two-hour playtime limit for refunds will apply (except for beta testing), but the 14-day period for refunds will not start until the release date. For example, if you purchase a game that is in Early Access or Advanced Access, any playtime will count against the two-hour refund limit. If you pre-purchase a title which is not playable prior to the release date, you can request a refund at any time prior to release of that title, and the standard 14-day/two-hour refund period will apply starting on the game’s release date.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I think that's okay... right?

 

[Kilau]

I wasn't aware of this loophole but it makes sense.

 

[SlimySnake]

i returned no rest for the wicked almost immediately. 40 minutes is all it took for me to realize i dun wan it.

sucks that people played for far longer and returned it. losers.

 

[Kataploom]

I think that was way too permissive, many indie devs depend on early access to start funding their games.

 

[IntentionalPun]

That’s ridiculous you could refund early access after tons of hours.

 

[Topher]

Surprised this wasn't done a long time ago

 

[Three]

The slightly annoying thing is that advanced access sometimes doesn't let you play the main part of the game. COD MW3 for example had a short 3 hour campagin you could play in advanced access but you couldn't play the multiplayer until release. So you have to intentionally hold out for the release to be able to test the entire game. This might be a good thing if only it deters people paying extra for advanced access and just waiting for release to test the entire game at once.

 

[graywolf323]

Surprised this wasn't done a long time ago

same, especially people were doing it after putting like 40+ hours into Starfield during the early release for deluxe edition buyers

 

[Arsic]

I think 2 hours is plenty. This was clearly an abuse of that so it’s fine.

I’m glad to read I can still play for 2 hours, not get hooked, and bail out.

 

[intheinbetween]

Well, makes sense

 

[Last Hearth]

This seems like an appropriate closing of a loophole, I can't believe they even let it go on this long.

 

[Spukc]

That’s ridiculous you could refund early access after tons of hours.

It’s early access devs are not inforced to improve anything..

So it’s like early access to my money.
And i will remove it when the game is not up to par