Steam updates refund policy to close advanced access loophole
Valve has announced changes to Steam's refund policy, preventing players from refunding titles before their official launch if they have played them in early access.
The details:
Before the update, Steam users could receive a guaranteed refund if they had not played more than two hours of a game and requested the refund within 14 days of its full release. Time spent playing a game that had not yet been made available to all players was not tracked until after its global launch.
Valve has now introduced the "Advanced Access" label, which is applied to games that have an early access period before their official launch, and will begin tracking playtime, therefore preventing the abuse of the refund system. For example, those who pre-ordered Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's deluxe edition were able to play the game three days early, but this playtime was not tracked, allowing players to beat the game and receive a refund before it even released.
The terms of the original policy remain in effect for games without early access periods, with players able to request refunds at any time before launch.
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