One Indie Dev Lost 55,000 Sales to Steam’s Two-Hour Refund Window

I’ve watched Steam’s refund policy chip away at short indie titles for years, but watching a Very Positive game bleed out 55,000 returns still lands like a gut punch. Zoroarts, the solo developer behind Paddle Paddle Paddle, says players are treating his $3 boat adventure like a free rental: finishing it in under two hours-some in as little as ninety minutes-then filing for a full refund under Steam’s 14-day, sub-two-hour guarantee.

The numbers are brutal. Zoroarts claims a 21% refund rate on the title, totaling more than 55,000 refunds despite an 89-90% positive review score from roughly 1,400 users. One review he highlighted practically dares the system: “GREAT GAME, finished within 1:40 hrs (refunded).” The game is designed to deliver about four hours of content across its full campaign plus a free demo, but speedruns and casual playthroughs alike are slipping under the wire.

This is not a new wound. The same structural flaw drove Emika Games to quit the industry after Summer of ’58-another 90-minute, Very Positive title—lost tens of thousands of sales to the same loophole. The behavior amounts to a free playthrough exploit that still falls within Steam’s stated rules, leaving small studios to absorb the cost of a consumer protection policy built for blockbuster runtimes.

Zoroarts wants Steam to add clearer expected-playtime labels on store pages and adjust the refund window so that completing a short title does not automatically qualify for a return. Until Valve moves, the practical lesson for indies is unavoidable: if your entire experience clocks in under two hours, your launch price is effectively a suggested donation, and no amount of goodwill in the review section will fix the leak.