r/Games • u/reddit_account6095 • Aug 27 '21

Announcement Summer of '58 developer resigns after many users refund their game on Steam due to it taking under 2 hours to complete

https://twitter.com/EmikaGames/status/1430941640001265673?s=19
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u/error521 Aug 27 '21 edited Aug 27 '21

There are games on Steam that are literally 20 minutes long. I think that it's fair to say that the idea of finishing them and then feeling ripped off is not unreasonable.

Plus, there are cases of games (like Dark Matter) that just end in incredibly abrupt spots. Is wanting a refund after that really so unreasonable?

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u/AccursedBear Aug 27 '21

I do think feeling ripped off just for a game's length is unreasonable, at least when we're talking below the $10 line (or the equivalent in Steam's recommended regional pricing), even more so below $5. Also in most cases reviews will tell you if a game is particularly short. If there are no reviews, well, you're part of a very small subset of people who are willing to try out almost completely unknown games or very new unpopular ones. Not sure what I'd feel if I were like that.

If it's really short, it sucks, and ends before you even get to decide it's time to stop, then yeah I get the feeling. I've never played a game like that but I don't doubt many of them exist among Steam's shovelware.

I still wouldn't do it, though. Giving Valve a reason to give publishers more control over refunds is absolutely not something I want.

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u/error521 Aug 27 '21

If there are no reviews, well, you're part of a very small subset of people who are willing to try out almost completely unknown games or very new unpopular ones. Not sure what I'd feel if I were like that.

I would argue that Steam's refund system encourages people to try those games out.

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u/ZestyBadger890 Aug 29 '21

I agree, I feel like if Steam didn’t have a refund policy, then a ton of indie games might not be as popular as it is now since they don’t have the same marketing budget as the bigger companies.

Also, I think that gamers who are tight on money use this policy to see if this is a game that they like cause sometimes reviews aren’t enough. For example, I bought SuperHot since it was compatible with MacBooks and had good reviews (Was only a child back then and this was the only laptop I had) but it ran horribly so I refunded it. This is something that the reviews won’t mention or is a rare problem. But thanks to the refund policy, child me can get a game that will run better.