Although they would not admit it, developers do not like Steam refunds. After all, it involves money being returned to players, and as a corporate entity, it is purely bad business. Unfortunately for them, the process is meant to help players and/or consumers alone.
Sadly for the PC survival game called "Rust," it had to undergo such a process. After three and a half years of being an Early Access darling on Steam, the game experienced criticisms, which ultimately led to players asking for refunds. Surprisingly, the numbers involved are quite massive.
Why players asked for refunds
According to Kotaku, the most cited reason on Steam was “not fun,” referring to the overall gameplay of the game. In reality, the title is considered as one of the most difficult games to play. Facepunch Studios, the developers, actually intended it as simply the main core of the title. This even goes without saying that there no tools available in-game that should help players with their journey. This, among others, led them to decide that the game is not, ironically, worth their money and time.
Of course, this does not apply to everyone who played "Rust" There are some who actually liked the premise of the title. They believe that a game like this is one of a kind, and it is among those Early Access titles that need support from the gaming community.
While this is true, in one way or another, there is really nothing that the studio can do to revert back the refunds.
The studio’s take on the recent happenings
Apparently though, the very own lead designer of "Rust" Garry Newman, revealed the figures involved right after Steam refunds were process. All in all, there are around 329,970 units refunded, all contributing to the total refunded money of $4,382,032.
Newman iterated that despite the heavy numbers, they only amount to six percent of the total sales acquired by the game. He even went to say that despite what happened, it was something that they consider “understandable.” Newman believes that this can be traced back to the game’s relatively steep learning curve.
However, the "Rust" designer is not really convince with Steam’s refund process.
To him, it only gives players some leeway to ask for a return, regardless of being satisfied or not. Nonetheless, he thinks that the company still gained more sales despite the $4 million loss. On the other hand, Steam refunds happen on a monthly basis, with around 50,000 request being dealt each month.
