Paddle Paddle Paddle dev calls out Steam's refund policy after 55,000 refunds on a Very Positive game

Zoroarts, the solo developer behind indie boat game Paddle Paddle Paddle, went public on X/Twitter to demand Valve change Steam's refund policy — after racking up nearly 55,000 refunds on a game sitting at Very Positive reviews.

Steam's standard policy lets players refund any game played under two hours within 14 days of purchase. Paddle Paddle Paddle sells for $3 and was designed with a target playtime of around 3.5 hours for the main level, plus a free demo level that takes roughly 40 minutes. Zoroarts says skilled players and speedrunners regularly finish the whole thing in one to two hours — well inside the refund window — and that the game has nearly 1,400 Steam reviews, 90% of which are positive. One review Zoroarts highlighted read: "GREAT GAME, finished within 1:40 hrs (refunded)." The studio puts the refund rate at 21%, and says it has received insulting comments accusing it of making a game shorter than two hours, despite some players logging five or even 20-plus hours.

This isn't a new tension. Short indie games have long been caught in an awkward spot with Steam's two-hour rule — a policy designed to protect consumers from broken or misrepresented games, not to serve as a free-play window for compact experiences. Valve's terms of service do explicitly call out "abuse" of the refund system and warn that repeat offenders can lose refund privileges, but how aggressively that clause is enforced in practice is opaque. The broader PC gaming culture around short games is also a factor: there's a persistent segment of players who treat anything completable in under two hours as not worth paying for, regardless of quality.

Zoroarts isn't just asking Valve to tighten the policy — the developer also backed a more transparent solution: displaying expected playtime and price clearly on store pages, so "too short" can no longer be a valid refund justification. Community reaction has been mixed, with some sympathizing but others pointing out that Valve rarely moves on refund policy changes. Valve has not responded publicly.