Steam tightens refund policy for Early Access games

Image: Steam

Eight years ago, Valve introduced a generous refund policy for Steam users. You could get a refund on any game, no questions asked, within 14 days of purchase as long as you played for less than two hours. However, this policy didn't quite apply to Early Access and Advanced Access games. 

In these programs, players could enjoy a game early before its official release, but playtime during that period didn't count towards the two-hour limit. This meant some could essentially play most of the game and then request a refund before release. To address this loophole, Valve has updated its policy. Now, any playtime in Early Access or Advanced Access will count towards the two-hour refund limit.

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Steam revamps family sharing with new features

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Steam revamped its family sharing with Steam Families. Families can now share games more easily with simultaneous play for different games, stronger parental controls, and easier gifting for kids.

Gone are the days of juggling Family Sharing and Family View. Now, families of up to six can play together without restrictions on how many devices you can authorize (except members can play the same game at once). If two people in your family want to play the same game, there needs to be a new copy bought and added to your library. Each member still maintains their saves, achievements, workshop files, and other features.

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Nintendo blocks Dolphin emulator from Steam

Nintendo has forced Valve to remove Dolphin, a free open-source emulator for GameCube and Wii games, from Steam. The company sent a legal notice to Valve on May 26, accusing Dolphin of violating its intellectual property rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Dolphin team can either challenge the notice or comply with it. If they challenge it, Nintendo may sue them in court, which could affect the future of emulators. The Dolphin team says it’s still deciding what to do and will update the public soon. Meanwhile, Dolphin is still available on its website and GitHub page since Nintendo did not contact the Dolphin team directly.

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Steam to halt Windows 7, 8 support in 2024

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Steam will officially stop supporting Windows 7 and Windows 8 (and Windows 8.1) starting January 1, 2024. According to Valve, the newest features in Steam need an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer works with these older versions of Windows. Plus, future versions of Steam will need Windows features and security updates available in Windows 10 and above. So, if you haven't made the shift to the newer Windows operating system yet and use Steam, now is the time to switch.

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