Last week's introduction of a concrete refund policy on Steam was an obvious win for consumers. Valve used to issue refunds for Steam purchases only in extreme situations, but now there's a blanket policy offering a money-back guarantee for any game purchased in the last 14 days and played for less than two hours (Valve will also "take a look" at refund requests placed outside this window).
But for developers, the idea that players can return games for any reason is a little scary. In the week or so since the policy was introduced, many developers have complained publicly about sky-high return rates on their games. Others worry about players trying to game the system; Octodad developer Kevin Geisler, notes that the vast majority of returns for his game so far have been outside the prescribed two-week window.
It's a bit early to know if these trends will continue or if it's just a reflection of previous pent-up demand for refunds (and the attention the policy is getting in the press). For what it's worth, Steam Spy's estimates show a slight uptick in total game ownership across the Steam library since the refund policy was announced (though some individual games have shown downward sales trends according to the tracking site).
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