Steam from Valve is an excellent service for people who love to play their games on PC. The application not only has a wide variety of titles to browse through, as well as a lot of deals that happen, but it's very user-friendly to use. One of the perks of playing games through Steam is the refund policy, which allows users to try out games for a set period of time. If someone dislikes their purchase within two weeks and less than two hours of playtime, they can get a full refund for the game they purchased. While this is a great thing for customers, it unfortunately has an unintended side effect that is impacting niche indie games.

Some indie titles that release end up being short but sweet experiences that can be played for less than two hours. Although their gameplay might be highly replayable, it may not retain the people who purchase it. Under Steam's refund policy, someone can abuse the system and get a full refund for an indie game they purchase, even if they have already finished it. This is silently killing niche indie games under the guise of the best intentions for Steam customers.

Short indie games lose out

They are very vulnerable

What makes this dire for niche indie game developers is how their games can be affected by this, regardless of quality. Steam's refund policy doesn't take into account games that are shorter than the 2-hour window, which can encompass a wide range of titles. Theoretically, someone can buy an indie game and play through it to the end in less than 2 hours, getting any and all Steam achievements associated with it, and then refund the full game. At that point, not only has the experience already happened to the player, but the indie developer isn't compensated for their work due to the full refund. There's nothing that anyone can do to prevent that as things are currently.

At that point, is it even worth going through the trouble of making a niche game for Steam? Developers and their small studios cannot survive if they aren't able to make money from the games they release on the platform. It's already tough enough for indie developers trying to break into the gaming industry as is, let alone get noticed by someone to bring attention to their titles. No business of any kind is going to be financially viable if it can't make some sort of profit from its products. And if every smaller indie game can fall within that window of Steam's policy, it defeats the purpose of even releasing them.

Looking for a compromise

Is there a solution to the problem?

Some may argue that Steam's refund policy isn't meant to be favorable to developers, but rather to their customers. However, something needs to be done to take smaller games into account and protect them from excessive refunds from users. Steam, as a platform, cannot just ignore many game developers who aren't part of larger studios and are experiencing a pretty major issue. On average, most indie game releases have around 10%-12% of their sales refunded, with some first-time studio releases having a higher refund rate, especially on Steam. One part of the first step in solving the problem is to re-examine Steam's policy as a whole and find ways to include extra steps to support indie game releases.

If a timeframe to keep people from taking advantage of the refund policy is necessary, then there should be extra options for smaller developers to opt into. Instead of just two hours, why not have the option of a grace period following when an indie game is purchased to prevent less immediate refunds? Although it won't solve the issue as a whole, it will deter many from abusing the current policy. Something like this could be specifically for games that have shorter playtime, not bigger games that players will obviously spend more time with. And if that doesn't work, then Valve needs to take the time to brainstorm a better solution.

Not taking away from users

There needs to be balance

Finding ways to change and improve Steam's refund policy isn't going to take things away from users. Many players might be quick to point out that modifying the refund policy is immediately anti-consumer, especially when it is generous in letting people try things out. But that couldn't be further from the truth, since it ignores that people are willing to take advantage of the system so easily with smaller games. Indie developers being able to sustain themselves isn't anti-consumer, nor is making sure that sales of their games are legit. In the end, all sides should win when engaging with Steam to sell and play games that are made.

At the same time, saying indie developers should just create better experiences to avoid being refunded is a lame counterargument. Smaller games that are great and give a lot to players can still be affected by a policy with the potential to be abused. It puts the blame on them for something completely out of their control. If their vision for a game is exactly what it needs to be as a short experience, then developers shouldn't be punished for delivering it to players, including those who just want to get over. There needs to be a better balance with the policy that allows studios to survive when they release games on Steam, not make it easy for someone to take away what they work hard for.

The ball is in Valve's court

Despite refunds being a big issue for indie developers on Steam for a while, not much has changed since it became an ongoing discussion. For indie developers looking to find their place on Steam to get better, Valve will need to make the necessary moves to change its policy. As much as indie developers can complain or garner support from users online, Valve will have the final say. They are the only ones who can make any sort of change to the platform that will significantly address the issue. With any luck, they have already taken note of the gripes indie developers currently have, because the stability of great indie games on Steam depends on it.