Valve overhauls Steam refund policy, games can be returned for “any reason”

Valve, owner of the Steam digital distribution platform, today announced a massive overhaul of its refund policy for online videogame purchases. Customers are now able to request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam, for "any reason", provided the request is made within 14 days of purchase, and the title has been played for less than two hours.

Valve says that there may be some leniency with these rules, and that it will still consider refunding customers who fall outside of these timeframes.

Customers will be issued a refund within a week of approval; the full amount will be returned to the payment method used to make the purchase. If this is not doable, the full amount will be credited to a user's Steam Wallet.

Valve is able to make refunds on games, in-game purchases and bundles. Movies, gifts and games purchased outside of Steam cannot be refunded. In the case of pre-orders, the 14 day grace period begins on the day of the game's release.

Refunds can be requested through Steam's help portal.