Steam refunds! They are neither exciting nor sexy, but Valve’s new policy is a dramatic departure from the draconian way the company previously handled refunds. The shift has been hailed as both pro-consumer and concerning for indie developers.
For our Topic of the Week, we want to know what you make of the policy. Is it a welcome change, or do you think it’s going to just inspire chancers to take advantage of it? And if you think it’s rubbish, how would you improve it?
I’ll get the ball rolling.
This feels like Valve flinging stuff at the walls to see what sticks. It’s Greenlight, Early Access and paid mods all over again. Steam went from this walled off, exclusive place where nobody really understood how Valve selected what games would make it onto the platform to this completely open place, where any old shite could be flogged for a few quid. It’s always one extreme to the other with Valve, and this continues with Steam refunds.
Valve definitely did need to sort out its refund policy, but this one size fits all approach, where anyone can get a refund for any game for any reason as long as they’ve played for less than two hours just doesn’t make sense. What about the games that can be completed in 2 hours or less? Nor does it protect developers who rightly choose not to riddle their games with DRM, who are inevitably going to face more problems with piracy.
That’s enough of me rambling on. What do you beautiful people make of all this? Feed us your brain morsels.