Play Before You Pay: Steam Allows 90-Minute Gameplay Before Purchasing a Game

[AleksandarK]

For gamers that ended up buying massively hyped games and found them to be quite disappointing, Valve is there to help. Valve's Steam will now allow gamers to play games for free for up to 90 minutes before forcing them to either pay to continue playing or end the game there. Starting with the new Dead Space Remake, gamers will be able to enjoy the first 90 minutes of gameplay without committing any funds towards the purchase of the game. Given that today's AAA titles can cost 59.99+ USD, this is an excellent choice for gamers wanting to try out the game before purchasing to finish the gameplay.

The new measure is already available to gamers on Steam, as the Dead Space Remake is the first to kick off the wave of 90-minute trials. Previously available for 59.99 USD, the game is on a 20% discount until May 29 and can be had for 47.99. We need to find out if more games will support this policy of free trials or if Steam will force some titles to do the same. Valve's older measures, such as refunds, are still in place; however, refunds require less than two hours of the game being played, so a refund can be valid.



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[kapone32]

Wasn't that already something that Steam does. I thought you had up to 1 hr total of Gameplay before you could get a refund?

Wasn't that already something that Steam does. I thought you had up to 1 hr total of Gameplay before you could get a refund?

Sorry I did not read the post properly. I did not see you get to try it.

 

[ExcuseMeWtf]

Sounds great.

 

[Space Lynx]

I thought you had up to 1 hr total of Gameplay

2 hours and then refund is cut off.

this is nice though too, 90 mins and no paying up front. will be awesome to test on rigs and such too. this is neat imo

 

[Metroid]

90 minutes is not good enough, 24 hours is all right.

 

[Space Lynx]

90 minutes is not good enough, 24 hours is all right.

90 mins seems fair to me, to see if i like it and if it will run well on my system, i personally don't need more time than that to know if its worth my money or not.

24 hours and people could just binge it and be done with it, so i am not sure what your logic is here

 

[WorringlyIndifferent]

90 minutes is not good enough, 24 hours is all right.

are you joking?

the overwhelming majority of games can be entirely finished with well under 24 hours of gameplay

 

[Metroid]

90 mins seems fair to me, to see if i like it and if it will run well on my system, i personally don't need more time than that to know if its worth my money or not.

24 hours and people could just binge it and be done with it, so i am not sure what your logic is here

If the game is worth they will pay even if they already are done with it. Those 24 hours are worth just a day and if you want to play again, you will need to pay. Last 100 games That I played I dont remember one single game that I played and lasted less than 24 hours and I was done with it, those 24 hours would not be good for games that you can finish in 2 hours and offer nothing after that. You can check my steam library if you want, most games I bought lasted more than 100 hours at least, some are 1k hours or more. 24 hours free for AAA games is a must. 90 minutes is not good enough to see if a game is worth my money or not. My point is devs will focus on the 90 minutes and forget the rest of the game hehe because if they make a game good enough for 90 minutes they are sure you will pay for it ehhe, 24 hours is hard to cheat on. Actually in my opinion, all games should be free and if you like the work they did and want to support it, then you pay.

 

[mahanddeem]

Lol 24 hours.
I know sweats finish games (single player) in under 8 hours. I'd do it personally if weekend lol

 

[R0H1T]

are you joking?

the overwhelming majority of games can be entirely finished with well under 24 hours of gameplay

Nah, we need 90 hours just to make it fair

 

[Double-Click]

It doesn't matter, it's a business and if the possibility of a user finishing a AAA game during the trial exists then it's a non-starter.

 

[ZoneDymo]

yall remember Flight Simulator....because I do.

Steam/Valve honestly does not want to bother with this crap so they just throw out an arbitrary number and call it a day.
But I guess 1,5 hours + 2 hours after buying is not bad to check something out.

also wasnt dead space remake that game with technical issues that arnt fixed to this day?

 

[ymdhis]

90 minutes is not good enough, 24 hours is all right.

In 24 hours you can finish many AAA games in one sitting. 90 minutes is good enough if it is counted for in-game time, not "after pressing download".

But it would be so much better if companies made single-level demos. I remember back when nearly every game used to have those.

 

[qlum]

I wonder if some sad person is going to abuse it, switching accounts until they finish the game.

I know at that point pirating would by far be the better option but still, it could probably be done.

 

[Metroid]

VPN.

are you joking?

the overwhelming majority of games can be entirely finished with well under 24 hours of gameplay

Lol 24 hours.
I know sweats finish games (single player) in under 8 hours. I'd do it personally if weekend lol

In 24 hours you can finish many AAA games in one sitting. 90 minutes is good enough if it is counted for in-game time, not "after pressing download".

But it would be so much better if companies made single-level demos. I remember back when nearly every game used to have those.

Just so you know, I played the pirated version of elden ring when it came and finished after hundreds of hours then to support the devs I bought the steam version, I played on steam too but my purchased was to support it because if it was not then I would have kept the pirated version and not bought it. The truth is many devs want to make bad quick games and want idiots to buy it. I really want to play resident evil 4 remake but for that price is stupid, will never pay 60 usd for it because is a rip off. If they decide to lower the price 50% off then by all means I will buy if not then no, this is not about money, is about what you think they deserve.

There are many games on steam that you can play on the weekend for free, that is 48 hours.

Anyway, 90 minutes is better than nothing.

 

[BiggieShady]

I wonder if some sad person is going to abuse it, switching accounts until they finish the game.

I know at that point pirating would by far be the better option but still, it could probably be done.

New accounts probably can't try out games until first purchase

 

[FreedomEclipse]

But it would be so much better if companies made single-level demos. I remember back when nearly every game used to have those.

EA had this multiplayer demo for Battlefield 2. There were SO MANY servers to choose from. some 3rd party and some official and there was no time limit. I think the amount of maps were obviously limited. you only had a choice of ether one or two maps but boy were those maps super fun and the game was so enjoyable that only 2 maps didnt matter!

I played the demo for MONTHS then a friend said to me "You know a full game exists right?" EA absolutely deserved my money for that game.

 

[AGlezB]

This might help a lot of small studios that struggle to release demos.

 

[RadeonProVega]

I usually use other "ways" of obtain the game to try it out before buying it.
I tried out the borderland series 2 years ago because i thought they were terrible, tried them out, liked them and bought all of them. But this new way from steam, if the game doesn't require alot of space to download yea I'm for it.

 

[progste]

This is basically having a demo available for every game, seems great!

 

[64K]

I see this as a good thing for gamers if it catches on. Not having to hassle with keeping up with purchases and returns for those of us that reconcile our credit card statements each month to prevent possible fraud or errors.

Additionally a gamer doesn't have to be concerned about too many returns on purchased games which Steam has a policy to deny refunds if they think you are abusing the refund policy and who in the hell knows what Steam considers abuse. How many returns over what period of time would Steam consider abuse?

 

[Solaris17]

How many returns over what period of time would Steam consider abuse?

It isn’t just you though. They are likely looking at it from an overall perspective not just per account.

you get 100% if your money back but they still have to pay the bank transfer fees.

 

[windwhirl]

90 minutes is not good enough, 24 hours is all right.

I'd say you barely need 60 minutes to test out a game before you purchase. 90 minutes is generous enough.
PS: There aren't any news of those 90 minutes counting for the 120 minutes limit for refund, right?

 

[Solaris17]

PS: There aren't any news of those 90 minutes counting for the 120 minutes limit for refund, right?

I would think its implied, since you technically dont own the game. I'm curious to know though.

 

[R-T-B]

this is not about money, is about what you think they deserve.

With all due respect, as a past dev, my work is worth what I say I'll sell it for. Not what you "think I deserve."

If you disagree, that is not an invitation to pirate it, it means DO NOT USE. Plain and simple.