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As for games just crashing, that happens sometimes. Programming isn't flawless. Not everything can be caught before release.
2. Steam get to decide if customers get refund, not the devs unless the devs want to honor a refund with no limit, want to make exception to offering refund beyond Steam refund policy out of devs own pocket, or sales.
3. If an issue with the game, and happens to everyone or most people this meant game Dev has to fix it, and someone has to notify the devs about it.
BUT, if it only happening to few, or less people then those people have to figure out why it happening, when it works for everyone else, unless the user intentionally trying play the game below system requirements that couldn't meet to playing the game in the first place then they shouldn't be playing it, or complaining, but rather go refund it instead, or keep it until have hardware able to meet requirements. Lastly if the user intentionally doing something to the game files, and permissions, or using 3rd party apps that messing with game files, and permissions that something user need to look into.
I was not the originator of this idea, someone in the Mindseye forum speculated this was the reason for the crash. I didn't actually think it was true when I read it and it turned out, no it was not intentional it was a memory leak. However I was thinking "well, even though this was just bad coding and not a scam, there has to be something to prevent any dev from scamming people like that right?" and I went to go look around trying to reassure myself I was right. It is so obvious that this shouldn't be allowed that surely Valve has some policy to prevent this even if I didn't find it.
https://www.ign.com/articles/mindseye-developer-build-a-rocket-boy-begins-layoff-process-amid-disastrous-launch-studio-sources-say
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/mindseye-developer-confirms-layoffs-as-it-focuses-on-updates-and-performance-optimization-for-mindseye
https://www.polygon.com/gaming/608467/mindseye-developer-layoffs-build-a-rocket-boy-uk
To put it differently, that's an extremely dumb way to scam people.
that said, a game not running on your hardware, or isnt compatible, etc.., is not only the common one, but one thats mentioned as a particular reason one can refund beyond the refund period, within a reasonable time frame.
if the automated response doesnt allow a refund, one should use a manual ticket, supply all relevant info and you are likely (though dont expect) to get a refund.
also keep in mind, devs can request valve to issue refunds and have done so, in particular cases, but not all devs are willing to do so, as most would rather keep the money, over giving it back to their customers, even if what they have, or are doing, is wrong, or something happened that refunds might be a considered.
i had a game i bought a long time ago, where it wouldnt run properly and ran past the refund period, brought it to support, mentioned it was hardware/game related and got a refund, then later down the line after building a new pc, repurchased the game.
to note: that single game is the only one i have had to refund in my entire time here on steam, as im extremely picky on what i buy, doing any and all research before hand, be it game bugs/issues, game mechanics, story, etc.., the devs behavior, political,etc.. nonsense and/or possibly the community surrounding them, when you have seen many games go unfixed, broken and/or purposely broken, behavior/etc... or early access nonsense, or simply abandonment, and other such things, one tend to lean on safety, over buying stuff "willy nilly" without looking into everything said game entails.
also to note, the amount of refunds, or time in which refunds are asked for, may have an affect on whether or not they decide to give one, but hardware/game related issues, are usually considered to be ok.
also, while its good and all (admirable) to try and get a game working because of issues in the game, to support said game even if its one you would have liked, one shouldnt work hard to make a game work, especially if the developers cant be bothered to fix the bugs/issues (or as you mentioned, doing something underhanded), but in general... not wasting your time and money, to then go beyond the refund period, as its not worth supporting devs who do this, or cant be bothered.
if the developer of a game, is purposely doing such and can be proven, then one should report the game and/or bring it up to support, if its simply developers not bothering to fix things, then simply refund and dont support them, or any of their future games, because it will be a reoccurring theme, also because people buying games despite development bug/issues that go unfixed through its whole development process, see this and think its ok to do and it shows they obviously dont care enough, to fix stuff and only care for the money.
if buying a game and you like it, to then later find bugs/issues and not fixed, well not much else one can do, but join in with the community and complain and ask stuff to be fixed.
in any case, you arent to blame for bad developers, but you shouldnt push yourself to deal with, or give benefit of doubt, when it comes to your hard earned money and valuable time.
anywho.. good luck and have a nice day
They can crash and avoid refunds to increase users' perception of the manual appeal system.
Of course a developer could add a killswitch into its game which forcefully shuts it down after x Amount of time.
You should be able to find cases where such (or similar) things where done on a few games back in the day as a copy protection measure on not legally obtained titles.
And no, valve could not detect such things, as that would need some kind of reverse Engineering of the game code.
And no, no sane dev would do such things to get money, as the people who refund a game most likely are way less then you think and would not really make a difference in the income.
The thing with conspiracy theories is that they work fine in theory, but not practically.