Steam Games Lacked Refunds and Now Valve Corporation Has to Pay
We all know Valve, at least, all PC gamers know Valve. The great game distributor and publisher was sued earlier this year, back in March. The reason, poor policies from its Steam client that didn’t work in consumer favor; specifically, the Australian consumer. This is why the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission(ACCC) has officially found Valve guilty in legal proceedings.
Simply put, Australian Consumer Law forbids retail distribution without refund policies. Well guess what: Steam had no refund policies, no warranties, and no guarantees. Stuff like that just doesn’t slide in Australia. So the ACCC has moved forward by officially fining Valve Corporation $3,000,000.
As you can imagine, there has been plenty of back and forth between Valve and the ACCC. That’s why it took over two years for the legal proceedings to come to a head. Valve argued against the penalties of Australian law by stating that their company is based out of the United States and holds no physical presence in the overseas continent. Nevertheless, the ACCC resolutely maintains that the distribution of content to Australians, albeit digital, makes the distributor subject to state policies. Hence, the Valve Corportation cannot evade penalties
Months ago, during initial proceedings, Steam instituted a new refund policy. So long as players logged less than 2 hours of game time and requested the refund within 14 days of purchase, they could receive their money back for accidental purchases, mismatched PC requirements, or even a change of mind. This was after the Federal Court decided to move forward, however. Now Steam has to:
- publish information on Australian consumer rights on their website for 12 months
- implement a consumer compliance program for their system and staff,
- not make any similar representations to Australian consumers for three years
Seems Valve Corporation won’t be able to mislead Australian gamers anytime soon. The ACCC maintains standards of quality for all its consumers. But what about consumers elsewhere? Should the same qualities apply to other Steam users, or gamers in general? Comment down below and let us know your thoughts.