A “Before Your Eyes” developer was messed up by one of the players, and he felt one thing to point out.
before your eyes It is an interesting narrative adventure game with a unique mechanism. Players only need to blink their eyes to control what happens, and the game converts it into information entered via a webcam.
Watch on youtube
The first game launched by Goodbyeworld Games came out last week and was well received by Steam players-based on more than 500 reviews, it is currently rated as “Overwhelmingly Positive”. Unfortunately, due to the short experience, it became a victim of Steam’s refund policy.
Bela Messex, the lead designer of the game, entered Twitter, Highlight specific Steam comments Here, the player in question praised the game and gave a positive evaluation, only to show in the comment text that they eventually returned the game because it took them an hour and a half to finish watching the game.
“Yes, we did a short game,” Messex wrote in a frustrated tweet. “I think there should be more short-term games. I think short games should not be refunded for providing a great experience.”
Travis, the player behind the comments, is reading tweets and Apologies to Messex. Travis has since updated the review and promised to repurchase the game.
They wrote within the scope of abuse of authority: “I am sorry to abuse the system that is obviously damaged.” Follow-up tweets.
Of course, the system in question is Steam’s refund policy. Steam is often hailed as one of the best games on the digital market. Steam’s automatic refund policy allows players to return any game within two weeks of purchasing the game, as long as they play for less than two hours.
Unfortunately, this short two-hour rule has caused the most damage to developers with short games and little experience, because many of their games can be completed within two hours, even though they have actually completed and enjoyed the game. Eligible for a refund. Both the Epic Games Store and Microsoft on Xbox have adopted similar strategies.
This experience inspired Messex to learn a little bit about this situation by designing a non-refundable game. The game is called Refund This Game, and he wants to sell it on Steam for $100.
Refund This game will only show the player a timer, which can count up to two hours. If the player manages to exit within the last five seconds, they will get the achievement. If they fail, it will give them more than two hours of play time, making it more difficult for them to get an automatic refund.
I just submitted a “Refund this game” to Steam. Watch the timer count to 2 hours and exit in the last 5 seconds to get the achievement. The suggested retail price is $99.99. The release date is to be determined. pic.twitter.com/xaywcZ86mj
—Bella | Available right now! (@BelaMessex) April 13, 2021
It is worth noting that in many other cases, Valve will refund the refund after two hours of play time. This requirement only applies to automatic refunds and does not require valve staff intervention.
From the looks of it, Messex has submitted a “refund of this game” for approval. Valve has been trying to combat troll games and those that are only used for achievement unlocking, so the game may not be released on the platform. This also does not completely help the company’s image to be recognized.
However, it is worth checking out “Before Your Eyes” on Steam.
