For years, Steam has been a platform that offered its users comparatively generous return options. But now Valve’s service is announcing an important change that will affect players’ return behavior. An addition called “Advanced Access” is intended to close a gap and provide more clarity
From now on, no more automatic refunds with Advanced Access
Until now, players could request a refund within 14 days of purchase and for less than two hours of playtime. However, this regulation did not apply to games with advance access. This is changing with the introduction of “Advanced Access”. In future, any playing time during pre-release access will count towards the refund option. This means that anyone who plays for more than two hours before the official release can no longer automatically expect a refund, but will have to hope for goodwill from Steam Support. However, the return period does not begin until the official release date of the game, so the advance access is not taken into account here. In addition, the possibility of a refund for pre-orders for which the pre-purchase has not yet started remains available
New features and impact on users
With the introduction of Advanced Access, there is another new feature: players can already write reviews on Steam during the pre-access period. Previously, this was only possible at the time of full release. These changes are intended to provide more transparency and clarity for pre-release access and enable players to make informed decisions. It remains to be seen how the new return rules and the introduction of Advanced Access will affect purchasing behavior and the user experience on Steam.
