Steam says those hours you time criminals put in during advanced access now count toward the refund allowance

Players that put more than two hours into pre-purchased or advanced access games will now be exempt from Steam’s refund policy, says Steam, the maker of said policy and thus the final word on how it is implemented. As spotted by the Verge, this change is intended to combat a loophole where filthy time criminals could fill their stolen boots with ill-gotten fun pre-release, then get their money back.

The full statement reads as follows:

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 our more information regarding Steam Refunds here.

For comparison, here’s the old refund policy:

“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.”

And here’s the new one:

“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.”

Thank you, Valve. Empirically speaking, there’s not enough fun and/or money in the world to go around, and I think its absolutely disgusting that some people were allowed to have both.

Nonsense aside, this is honestly a perfectly reasonable change. The refund policy itself has become a bit of a meme over the years, with online speedrunners even inventing a whole new category of video where they try to beat games within the two hour window to stay eligible, although no-one to my knowledge actually refunded the games, which would be a dick move. There was even an indie horror called Refund Me If You Can, which challenged players to do exactly that.