Steam refunds get adjusted to account for pre-release playtime

Valve announced a small tweak to their refund policy, which closes a small loophole left open for Early Access and Advanced Access.

Their refund system is pretty reasonable giving you 14 days from purchase and 2 hours of play until you can no longer refund a title, but it seems it was left just a little bit too open in some cases. The good news is that Valve's not actually changing those rules, it's just getting a tweak to take into account all time played including before the full release date. So you won't be able to refund a game that gave you a few days access early, if you put over 2 hours into it, which it seems you could before.

In an announcement on Steam, Valve said:

Today we have updated a portion of our Refund Policy regarding pre-purchased titles. This change covers titles that are in pre-purchase and offer “Advanced Access”. Playtime acquired during the Advanced Access period will now count towards the Steam refund period. You can find out more information regarding Steam Refunds here.

If we look back to earlier in April the refund page simply stated this about pre-purchases:

REFUNDS ON PRE-PURCHASED TITLES

When you pre-purchase a title on Steam (and have paid for the title in advance), you can request a refund at any time prior to release of that title. The standard 14-day/two-hour refund period also applies, starting on the game’s release date.

But it now reads as this:

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.

Seems pretty straightforward and fair enough.