How to get a refund on Steam

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Steam, Valve's game distribution service, is the get-to place for many people when it's time to pick up PC games. Simply what if that game y'all picked upwards doesn't turn out to exist quite what you wanted?

To keep customers happy, Valve makes it extremely easy to get a refund on Steam, provided you meet a couple of requirements outlined below.

The criteria for getting a refund on Steam applies to both full games and DLC; it applies to in-game purchases as well, albeit with slightly tighter restrictions. (The window for refunds on in-game purchases is 48 hours, and you tin't have used, modified or transferred the item in question.)

Valve's refund policy is so generous that some developers have raised the alarm on it. Not all games are 20-hour epics, afterward all, and creators of curt experiences have occasionally been shortchanged past people buying a title, rushing through information technology, and then getting a refund whether they enjoyed it or not. Please, don't exist that person: you're just making developers poorer and less likely to create additional games.

Still, there are legitimate reasons to request a refund. Did y'all buy a game by mistake? Did y'all not check the specs and find it runs abysmally on your computer? Did you just plain not similar information technology? All these reasons are off-white game for Valve, so here's how you go that refund on Steam.

How to get a refund on Steam

For the purposes of this tutorial, I've bought i of Valve's ain titles — Half-Life: Source — and then returned it. Here'southward how to get a refund on Steam for information technology.

i.Caput to help.steampowered.com and log in.

How to get a refund on Steam — (Image credit: Alan Martin)

2. Once signed in, Steam volition list the games you've recently bought or played. Select the title that you're seeking a refund on.

3. Steam will ask you what the problem is, and then select the most accurate reason from the list. Not all these routes give a refund option, but proverb it'due south not what you expected, that y'all're having gameplay issues or that y'all want to remove the game from your library all do (bold you meet the requirements outlined in a higher place.)

4. Select "I'd similar to request a refund."

5. From the drop-down menu, select the method you'd similar your refund to be paid.

half-dozen. A confirmation screen will appear. In that location's an optional explanation box you can fill in that may support your instance, but it shouldn't exist necessary every bit long as you're within the refund window. Press "submit request."

7. You're washed! If you lot realize you've made a terrible mistake, press the button labelled "abolish refund request."

It may accept a few days before you lot become a response, just you lot'll learn the result of your request for a refund via email either way.

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing nigh tech for over a decade, roofing phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional mag likewise. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.