Dev calls out player who refunded his game after saying it was 'amazing,' player apologizes and rebuys it

Dev calls out player who refunded his game afterward saying it was 'amazing,' musician apologizes and rebuys it

(Image credit: GoodbyeWorld Games/Skybound Games)

By many accounts, Before Your Eyes is a smart and touching game, and the control condition system seems cool: It uses your webcam to determine when you blink. Information technology's also a short spirited, and leastwise indefinite player took advantage of that fact aside completing it in under two hours and then refunding it along Steam.

Steam's refund policy allows users to rejoi games "within two weeks of purchase and with to a lesser degree two hours of playtime" for whatever reason. It doesn't matter whether operating room non they finished the game, or if they liked it. Before Your Eyes lead designer and programmer Bela Messex knew someone had refunded the game despite enjoying the livelong thing because they left field a Steam user review, calling Before Your Eyes "amazing" in front getting their money back.

"Yep we made a shortsighted game," wrote Messex, responding to the review in a wide shared tweet. "I think there should be more abbreviated games. I think short games shouldn't grow refunded for delivering an awesome receive."

yep we made a short mettlesome. I call up in that location should be more discourteous games. I think short games shouldn't get refunded for delivering an awe-inspiring experience pic.twitter.com/bdngjVUpBDApril 12, 2021

A day later, the reviewer, whose name is Travis, repurchased the back and added a new paragraph to the review.

"Yes, the crippled is short, only IT has an basic reason for this," wrote Travis in the edited review. "Aliveness itself is short and can be gone in the blink of an eye, which kinda seems to be the compass point of making the game controlled aside blinking in the first place. It's worth your $10 and even if you beat the game in enough time to brawl so, you shouldn't exploit Steam's system and give back it."

Separately, Travis apologized to Messex on Twitter, saying that it had been "dirty" to give back the game after finishing and enjoying it, despite beingness on "a second of a budget."

The debate about refund policies

Steam and Epic say they may break accepting repay requests from those found to personify 'abusing' them.

That was a nice ending (and we must cherish them when we meet them), but the conflict betwixt refund policies and unmindful games is ongoing. Valve doesn't publish detailed data about refunds, thus I can't say for sure whether or not short games are actually refunded more often than long ones, but it's been a concern since Steam introduced the policy in 2022.

"What bugs me is [it's] a ane-size-fits-all return policy that's pretty clearly planned for 'gigantic' games, the sort that are $60 on launch Clarence Day," Crank Bottom Games founder Megan Fox told PC Gamer at the time. "Ii weeks and two hours makes perfect sentience if you'Ra talking about Further Cry 4, but then look at something like The Stanley Parable. It's a halt you can easily 'beat' in under two hours, the first gear time you sit pour down with IT, and apt walk aside feeling satisfied. Or something like [PS3 exploration game] Journey, where you literally receive to beat it in one sitting, since there's no saving."

In part, Steam clean's repayment policy exists to comply with regional regulations. In the EU, for example, consumers must be allowed to return online orders within two weeks of purchase "for any reason and without a justification." Still, that Europium "suited of withdrawal" rule ends arsenic soon as the purchaser uses the product. For a shirt, that would include removing the tags operating theater putting it in the washer. For software purchased online, downloading it is enough to end Valve's refund duty.

That substance Valve's repayment insurance is more than permissive than EU law calls for, and the 2 hour rule ISN't even a set rule. If you've played a Steam game for more than two hours, you can still submit a refund request. It won't be approved mechanically, but Valve will review IT and may approve it.

The Stanley Parable — Speaking of The Sir Henry Morton Stanley Parable, it's getting a new "Ultra Deluxe" edition sometime in the near future. (Image credit: Crows Crows Crows)

The Epic Games Store's refund policy is almost selfsame to Steam's: Request a refund within 14 days of purchase and with nether cardinal hours played, and it's yours. GOG's refund insurance policy is more generous than Steam and Epical's, giving players 30 years to request a refund and specifying no maximum playday. However, GOG can't rightfully 'take back' a game anyhow, As information technology only sells DRM-free software which is yours so long as you keep a copy of the data. Any stipulations about playtime would personify based on the honor organisation.

None of the stores mention the duration of the games being refunded, simply they do put vague caveats on their policies. GOG says that it may deny refunds that information technology believes are being requested "to hurt the developers that put their time and heart into making peachy games." Steam clean and Epos say they may stop acceptive refund requests from those found to live "abusing" them. Case-by-case players have been criticized in front for refunding a game after finish it, but I haven't heard much about mass refund abuse complete the ultimo six years.

If the histrion hit a button within five seconds of that timer reaching two hours, the game would exit and they'd get a Steam achievement.

According to its documentation statistics page, Steam receives over 100,000 refund requests a day, and conferred that bulk it's somewhat astonishing that there hasn't been more controversy over refunds. It helps, mayhap, that they're very favourite among Steam users: The ability to deliver games that Don River't work up has been great, peculiarly because substance abuser-specific technical issues derriere render $60 purchases worthless.

For creators of short games, though, the system can be study as a suggestion that their work International Relations and Security Network't worth anything. Two hours and under? That's a free game, for those willing to take in IT 1.

A flip for "Refund This Game"

When he tweeted about the Before Your Eyes review, Messex had sought to defend short games, not bring on a mass objurgation of Steam Oregon Travis. In a couple of other lighthearted tweets, he also pitched an idea for a new Steam game, which I hope He actually makes.

The game would be called "Refund This Game," and would display a timekeeper that counts unstylish two hours in real time. If the player smash a clitoris inside five seconds of that timekeeper reaching deuce hours, the game would exit and they'd get a Steam achievement. If they let the timer run past two hours, null would take place—except that they'd have a harder time getting a return. Messex's proposed price for Return This Gage is $99.99.

Messex really could clear Refund This Game, although I wonder whether Steamer would admit its release. When Valve open up Steam clean to all mettlesome submissions in 2018, it successful two rules: nothing illegal, and no "troll." Valve could classify Repay This Game as trolling, or make a new rule that metagames which involve Steam clean's policies and client service systems aren't allowed (it'd be kind of hard to blame them).

I just submitted "Refund This Game" to Steam. Picke a timer reckon to 2 hours and throw in within the last 5 seconds for an achievement. Proposed Mary Leontyne Pric $99.99. Release date TBA. exposure.twitter.com/xaywcZ86mjApril 13, 2021

See to a greater extent

It's a funny idea, though, and I Leslie Townes Hope Messex tries to passing IT for historical, if just to see if Valve reacts in the least. For now, he's not too serious about IT. "We've spent years making Before Your Eyes into the emotional journey that people finally got to experience last week, and I want that to be the focussing of my Energy Department right today," he said.

On that mark, Before Your Eyes is $10 on Steam. Or, it's $10, and then $0 after you refund it, and then $10 again after you feel guilty nearly refunding it and repurchase it—however you need to go about it. At the time of penning, Before Your Eyes has 537 reviews with an "Overpoweringly Positive" rating.

Tyler has spent over 1,200 hours playing Rocket Conference, and slightly fewer nitpicking the PC Gamer style guide. His special news beat is game stores: Steam, Epic, and whatever launcher squeezes into our taskbars next.