If you have purchased a game or software via Valve’s Steam games network and it hasn’t quite lived up to expectations and you are looking to get a refund for the game. This quick guide will show you how to process a Steam refund and get your money back. Valve’s gaming platform covers a wide variety of different platforms and devices, including the company’s new Steam Deck handheld games console. With over 35,000 games available to purchase and over 95 million users every month, the Steam network has an easy-to-use refund policy if certain conditions are met.
- The request is made within two weeks of the original purchase date
- You have play the game for less than 2 hours
Thankfully Valve allows you to easily request a Steam refund for nearly any purchase, for any reason. Perhaps your gaming rig simply doesn’t meet the required minimum hardware specifications of your purchased game or perhaps you left a game in your basket and bought it by mistake, or maybe you have even played the game for an hour and it just didn’t live up to your expectations or hype. This quick guide will take you through the process.
Start a Steam refund for your game
Before you request a refund from Valve it is worth making a note of these conditions :
A Steam refund will only be possible if it is within two weeks of the original purchase date and you have played the game for less than 2 hours. These conditions apply to both software and games.
Pre-ordered game refunds
If you have preorders any game via Steam and have paid in advance you can request a refund at any time prior to the release of the title. After which the standard 14 day and to our policy mentioned above will apply starting on their games release date.
DLCs Steam refund policy
DLC purchased from the Steam store is refundable within fourteen days of purchase, and if the underlying title has been played for less than two hours since the DLC was purchased, so long as the DLC has not been consumed, modified or transferred.
In game purchases
Steam will offer refund for in-game purchases within any Valve-developed games within forty-eight hours of purchase, so long as the in-game item has not been consumed, modified or transferred.
Steam Wallet refunds
If you have made any purchases in the Steam Wallet and would like a refund, the funds will need to have been purchased via Steam and not been used within 14 days of purchase.
Renewable subscriptions
If have entered into a monthly or annual subscription for any game on Steam if the subscription has not been used during the current billing cycle you may request a refund within 48 is of the initial purchase or the automatic renewal. Valve will consider the game use if it has been played during the current billing cycle or of any benefits or discounts included with the subscription have been used, modified, consumed or transferred.
Unfortunately as you might have already guessed any purchases made outside of Steam for game keys, wallet cards and the like from third parties will not be eligible for refunds by Valve. It is also worth mentioning that some payment methods used by Steam in certain countries may not support refunding back to the original payment method. For more details on this jump over to the official Valve Support site.
If you would like to proceed with a Steam refund for a game you have purchased and you meet the required conditions above jump over to the Valve site to start the game refund process.
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