Refund rate: the share of Steam sales that came back
Refund rate is the share of a Steam game's sales that players returned for a refund, counted in units or in dollars over the same days. Players can ask for a refund within two weeks of purchase with under two hours of playtime, so each day's sales can still be refunded for two weeks.
Last reviewed · SteamStats team
Why the refund rate matters
Refunds come off gross revenue before Valve applies the revenue share, together with chargebacks and taxes. Every refunded dollar is a dollar less of net revenue, and the payout falls by the developer's share of it. A refund rate counted in units can understate that loss when the refunded copies were bought at full price.
The rate is also a signal about the game. A jump after a patch, a price change or a discount week says something changed for the people who bought it, and the reasons players select and the reviews of the same days usually say what. GameDiscoverCo's 2020 analysis of one publisher's portfolio found dollar refund rates between 6.50% and 11.00% a month; that is one portfolio in one year, useful as a check rather than a norm.
Steam's refund rules
within two weeks of purchase and with less than two hours of playtime
| Purchase | Refund window |
|---|---|
| Games and software | Within two weeks of purchase, played for less than two hours |
| DLC | Within 14 days of purchase, if the base game was played for less than two hours since the DLC was bought |
| In-game purchases in games not made by Valve | Not refundable through Steam |
| Pre-purchases | The two-week window starts at release; before release a refund can be requested at any time |
| Bundles | A full refund when the combined playtime of the bundle's items is under two hours |
| Unredeemed gifts | The same two weeks and two hours; the money goes back to the buyer |
A player banned by Valve Anti-Cheat loses the right to refund that game, and Steam may stop offering refunds to accounts it sees abusing them. An approved refund is paid within a week, to the Steam Wallet or to the original payment method.
Units or dollars
- Refund rate in units = refunded units ÷ units sold, over the same days.
- Refund rate in dollars = refunded revenue ÷ gross revenue, over the same days.
The two differ whenever refunded copies cost more or less than the average copy. Copies bought at full price and refunded weigh more in dollars than copies bought in a deep discount, and regional prices move the dollar rate too. The unit rate says how many buyers changed their mind; the dollar rate says how much revenue left with them.
Example: one month of Pebblewick
Illustrative inputs for Pebblewick, the fictional demo game by Hollow Fern Games: 4,000 units sold in a month for $52,000.00 of gross revenue, with 152 units refunded worth $2,210.00.
| Measure | Calculation | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Units | 152 ÷ 4,000 | 3.80% |
| Dollars | $2,210.00 ÷ $52,000.00 | 4.25% |
The dollar rate is higher because most refunded copies were bought at full price in the first days, while a later discount sold many cheaper copies that stayed. The $2,210.00 comes off gross before Valve's share is worked out.
Where SteamStats shows it
The Sales view shows the refund rate as refunded units divided by units sold over the same days, and the tile turns to a warning above the organization's own warning line; the Refund rate alert sends the same signal to the Inbox. With the SteamStats browser extension connected, the view also lists the most common refund reasons and the share of players whose playtime is still inside the refund window. Sales refresh every 4 h on Indie and every 60 min on Studio and Publisher and are part of Indie, Studio, and Publisher.
Related terms
Sources
- Steam Refunds · checked November 1, 2026
- Steamworks: Payments and sales reporting FAQ · checked November 1, 2026
- GameDiscoverCo: Game refunds and the hidden costs of getting to net on Steam (17 August 2020) · checked November 1, 2026