How To Refund A Game On Steam: The SIMPLE Way

Purchased a game on Steam you’re just not into? Here’s how to get your money back!

If you’re wondering how to refund a game on Steam, you’ve come to the right place! 

Steam is one of the oldest digital distribution services out there. It was launched all the way back in 2003 and is owned by Valve, one of the biggest video game developers on the planet.

Steam runs on many different platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.

As hard as it is to believe, Steam offers over 30,000 video game for sale! And it has a staggering 95 million users on a monthly basis.

Steam offers everything from free to play games to paid-for AAA titles. When you buy a game via Steam, it gets added to your Steam account and you can also directly download the game to your device to play any time.

The advantage of Steam is that if you delete the game from your device you can always get it back – even years later. That’s because it’s always available for download again as long as you bought it one on Steam. It’s always saved in your Steam library.

But what happens if you buy a game on Steam and just don’t like it? Can you get your money back? 

Yes! And we’ll show you how.

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Steam Return Policy

Like most digital storefronts, Steam does offer returns as long as select conditions are met. If the game you purchased meets those conditions, you can return it for a refund. 

If the game your purchased doesn’t meet those conditions, you are likely out of luck º but you may want to still contact Steam customer support directly to see if you can get any refund help from them.

Here is what Steam says on its refunds policy page:

“You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason. 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 the required return period, and, in the case of games, if the title has been played for less than two hours. There are more details below, but even if you fall outside of the refund rules we’ve described, you can ask for a refund anyway and we’ll take a look.

“You will be issued a full refund of your purchase within a week of approval. 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.”

The main limitation for refunds:

• The game must have been purchased within the last two weeks
• AND you must have played the game for less than 2 hours in total
• The above also applies to DLC content (it must have been purchased within the last two weeks and you must have played the game less than 2 hours since you purchased the DLC)
• In-game purchases are refundable only for 48 hours since purchase and as long as the in-game purchase has not be used, modified, or transferred.

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How To Get A Refund For A Steam Game

As long as you meet the requirements outlined above, you can get a refund. Now here’s the process for doing so:

1. Go to help.steampowered.com and log into your Steam account.
2. Click on “A Purchase.”
3. Find the name of the game or other item you want a refund for and click on it. Note that if the game or other item does not show up in this list it is already outside of the refund window.
4. Select the reason you want a refund for the item.
5. Click “I’d like to request a refund.”
6. Fill out the next form, including how you would like your refund – to your Steam Wallet or your original payment method.

After this is done, check your email for a confirmation of your refund request. It may take a few days to hear anything about your refund.

Also, did you know the iPhone has a secret pinball game?

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Michael Grothaus

Apple expert and novelist, Michael Grothaus has been covering tech on KnowYourMobile for the best part of 10 years. Prior to this, he worked at Apple. And before that, he was a film journalist. Michael is a published author; his book Epiphany Jones was voted as one of the best novels about Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly. Michael is also a writer at other publications including VICE and Fast Company.

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