Games will no longer be eligible for a discount for 28 days since the last price increase
Starting March 28, new rules will apply to Steam’s discounting system.
Valve is known for its consumer-friendly policy when it comes to software refunds. The company gives 2 weeks for a refund for any purchase that was made through the Steam platform, as long as it is not a DLC, an in-game purchase, or a renewable subscription. Furthermore, games that were played for more than 2 hours cannot be refunded.
However, the creators of Steam are known for making those rules more lenient towards gamers, especially when there is substantial proof that the release is not delivering what was promised. Recently, gamers were reporting that it is actually possible to request a refund on Battlefield 2042 despite playing for more than the policy allows. The latest installment in the Battlefield series now has as few as 3400 players daily, which is a substantial decrease from the 100K all-time peak. This game is simply not going anywhere and it was an important lesson for gamers and publishers not to release half-baked titles, but also for game selling platforms to be prepared for such releases.
Starting from March 28, Steam will be focusing on a different problem, which is a fake discount. This problem does not apply only to Steam, but also to every other game selling platform or any retailer for that matter. Those who have looked for good Black Friday deals know for a fact that many retailers increase the price a day or week prior only to announce a massive discount later. This will not be possible with Steam’s new rules.
Specific Discounting Rules (from March 28, 2022):
- You can run a launch discount, but once your launch discount ends, you cannot run any other discounts for 28 days.
- It is not possible to discount your product for 28 days following a price increase in any currency.
- Discounts cannot be run within 28 days of your prior discount, with the exception of Steam-wide seasonal events.
- Discounts for seasonal sale events cannot be run within 28 days of releasing your title, within 28 days from when your launch discount ends, or within 28 days of a price increase in any currency.
- You may not change your price while a promotion is live now or scheduled for the future.
- It is not possible to discount a product by more than 90% or less than 10%.
- Custom discounts cannot last longer than two weeks, or run for shorter than 1 day.
Steam’s new discounting rules will be implemented starting from March 28. Publishers will not be able to implement new discounts for 28 days since the last discount. This rule will not apply during Steam-wide seasonal sales: Lunar New Year Sale, Summer Sale, Autumn Sale, and Winter Sale.
Source: Valve via Windows Central
