14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Valve is announcing that it is introducing a simple and straightforward refund policy for the Steam digital distribution system, allowing players to get their money back for almost any reason linked to a purchase.
The company states in the official announcement that all those who want to get their funds back need to deliver a request to the specialized site, as long as they do so within 14 days of the initial purchase and have only played the title for two hours.
Even for those gamers who are not covered by the two conditions, the company will evaluate their request and will probably grant a refund.
Valve adds, "You will receive the refund in Steam Wallet funds or through the same payment method you used to make the purchase. If, for any reason, Steam is unable to issue a refund via your initial payment method, your Steam Wallet will be credited the full amount."
Not all DLC is covered by the new refund policy for Steam and the policy is currently applied to in-game purchases only for titles that were created by Valve itself, although the situation might change in the future.
For pre-orders, gamers can ask the company to give their money back within a two-week window but before the actual launch date.
The policy is also applied to bundles and to Steam Wallet funds that are not used.
Cheaters will be unable to get refunds on Steam
Valve says that if the Valve Anti-Cheat system has banned a player, he will be unable to get money back linked to that title.
Gifts and movies also fall outside the refund policy that the company is implementing, and the announcement also makes it clear that any abuse will be punished.
Valve is at the moment aiming to introduce as many new features as possible to make sure that Steam remains the leading digital distribution service on the PC.
A refund policy is also very important for the company as it moves forward with the launch of the special Steam OS-powered machines, which are set to be introduced in the fall.
Valve and HTC are also planning to launch a virtual reality solution called Vive before the end of the year, although no price or release window have been announced so far.