Valve’s PC Gaming Platform Steam Has Better Digital Return Policy Than PlayStation 4

Valve's PC gaming platform Steam has done something that not even Playstation 4 has, and that is offering a worthwhile refund policy for online purchases. As we covered last week, the Playstation online store is known to be stingy whenever someone asks for a refund. This week though, Steam revamped their online policy and now players can return a game they bought and downloaded as long as the game is within the 14-day window and it hasn't been played for more than two hours.

The announcement came on the Steam blog. The best part about the new policy is Steam isn't worried about the reason why you're returning it. The return-tango is now over in the PC world.

"You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason," Steam's blog states. "Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it. It doesn't matter. Valve will, upon request via help.steampowered.com, issue a refund for any reason, if the request is made within fourteen days of purchase, and the title has been played for less than two hours."

If a player were to pre-purchase a game in advance and they wanted to get a refund before it comes out or two weeks within its release, then they absolutely can. As long as they follow the 14 day/2-hour rule upon its release they should be good to go.

For in-game purchases Steam will offer you a refund within 48 hours as long as the item has not been "consumed, modified or transferred." The same goes for DLC content. As long as something has not been "consumed, modified or transferred" then you'll be able to get a refund within 14 days. Let's say you did something along the lines of leveling up a character with the DLC though and wanted a refund. In that case you wouldn't be able to get one. All in all it's a great customer service move for anybody who isn't happy with their purchase for whatever reason.

Do you think Steam's digital refund policy will set the tone for future policies?