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Steam’s “no questions asked” refund policy makes it “super easy for players to abuse this rule”, says indie developer
Solo indie developer Mateo Covic, creator of the game Paddle Paddle Paddle, has publicly criticised Steam's refund policy after claiming he was forced to refund around 55,000 sales, a refund rate of roughly 21 percent, despite the game holding overwhelmingly positive reviews. Covic argues that Steam's "no questions asked" policy — which grants automatic refunds within two weeks to players with under two hours of playtime — makes it "super easy for players to abuse this rule", particularly when players complete a short game, leave a positive review, and then reclaim their money simply because they can.
Covic said he had designed the game for roughly four hours of total playtime, with the main level taking about 3.5 hours and the demo level around 40 minutes, but noted that skilled players and speedrunners often finished in one to two hours. He stressed he is "100% pro refund" and did not intend to call for the policy's removal, only to highlight the ease of abuse. However, his comments prompted a backlash: the game was review-bombed, slipping from "very positive" to "mixed" recent reviews, and he received a surge of hateful messages. Not all refunds were tied to length, with at least one reviewer refunding while branding the game "low effort ragebait streamer trash" and criticising its janky movement, and Covic admitted he could not verify how many refunds cited genuine reasons since players can simply select any listed justification.
In short
- Indie dev says Steam refunds cost him 55,000 sales.
- Short game finished in under two hours, then refunded.
- His complaint triggered review-bombing and abusive messages.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Steam's refund policy enables systematic exploitation by allowing players to experience nearly complete games before refunding them, particularly when they can leave positive reviews yet still reclaim their money; this disproportionately harms indie developers who rely on sales revenue and cannot absorb high refund rates, and the 21 percent figure for an overwhelmingly positive game suggests the mechanism is being misused as a try-before-you-buy loophole rather than genuine consumer protection.
The case against
Consumer protection requires accessible refund mechanisms, and the two-hour window necessarily permits some legitimate returns from players with valid reasons beyond game length; moreover, the developer's own evidence suggests specific quality issues with the game itself, implying that a higher-quality product would naturally command lower refund rates, and restricting returns further could unfairly punish consumers against genuinely defective purchases or reasonable buyer's remorse.
Explained simply
Steam is a digital distribution platform where players purchase and download video games. The company operates a refund policy that permits customers to recover their money within fourteen days of purchase if they have spent less than two hours playing the game, with no requirement to explain why.
Mateo Covic is an independent video game developer who has publicly stated that his game Paddle Paddle Paddle received around 55,000 refund requests despite receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from players. He created the game as a roughly four-hour experience, though he acknowledged that skilled and speedrunning players can complete it more quickly. Covic contends that the simplicity of Steam's refund process means players can complete a game, leave positive feedback, and then request their money back.
The issue raises questions about how to balance consumer protection with the financial viability of independent game development. Refund policies exist to protect players from faulty or deceptive products, yet they can be used by consumers regardless of whether they encountered problems with their purchase.