Valve responds to concerns over play time affecting Microsoft Flight Simulator refunds

Earlier this week, there were some concerns raised around Microsoft Flight Simulator and how the game's install could impact eligibility for refunds. The initial Steam download is a 600MB launcher, with the remaining 127GB download taking place from within the game. Valve has since responded to these concerns, assuring that download time won't impact anyone looking to get a refund. 

This is an issue that has been encountered on Steam before. Any game that installs a separate launcher or client, MMOs for example, often include large downloads before you can actually start playing. However, Steam will often show you as playing a game and begin counting play time while the client is loaded and not the actual game. This can be an issue for those worried about Steam's two-hour play time limit for refund eligibility. In the case of Microsoft Flight Simulator, it would take most people several hours to download the rest of the game, with all of that download time counting towards Steam's play time counter.

Fortunately, Valve appears to be well aware of this and appears to be taking steps to ensure download time is not accounted for when processing refund requests. Speaking with PCGamer, Valve's VP of marketing, Doug Lombardi, said: “The time it takes your machine to download the additional content will not be counted against the Steam Refund Policy. We are working with Microsoft to see if we can improve the download experience”.

No further details were given, so we don't know exactly what Valve is doing on the back-end to ensure refund eligibility, but hopefully things will go smoothly.

KitGuru Says: Have many of you picked up Microsoft Flight Simulator on Steam? How long did the download take for you to finish? 

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