An indie developer is publicly sharing figures that show how a targeted scam on Steam is costing his game tens of thousands of sales.
Steam’s refund policy is rightly considered one of the fairest in the industry: Anyone who has played a game for less than two hours and purchased it less than 14 days ago gets their money back without much hassle.
For the vast majority of games, this is a sensible form of buyer protection, and for Valve, it’s not merely a gesture of goodwill—since losing a lawsuit in Australia, it’s also a legally mandated requirement. Yet it’s precisely this goodwill that an increasing number of players are apparently exploiting to play through short indie titles completely for free.
A German solo developer has now calculated how much this is costing him—and in doing so, sparked a debate that extends far beyond his own game.
The Paddle Paddle Paddle Case
Mateo Covic from Duisburg, known by the name Zoroarts, has releasedPaddle Paddle Paddlea small surprise hit: The physics-based co-op rage game, in which you struggle through an obstacle course in a canoe, was reportedly created in less than a month and, according to the developer, has sold over 260,000 copies since its release in July 2025.
On Steam, the game currently has a “Very Positive” rating, with 89 percent of the roughly 1,400 reviews being positive. Nevertheless, Covic sounded the alarm on X on July 5. His accusation: A growing number of players are deliberately buying the game, completing it in under two hours, and then getting their money back via Steam’s refund feature. Some even brag about it in their own reviews.
This should not be possible @Steam
Would be cool if you could finally do something about your refund policy… Got dozens of reviews like that and a 21% refund rate even though 90% of the reviews are very positive…
That’s over 55,000 refunds, by the way… pic.twitter.com/fSiuHjGRnD
— Zoroarts Paddle Paddle Paddle OUT NOW (@Zoroarts) July 5, 2026
According to his data, Paddle Paddle Paddle has a refund rate of 21 percent. Based on his figures, that amounts to over 55,000 refunds. At the current discounted price of 3 euros, that would amount to roughly 165,000 euros that the developer has lost out on—minus the 30 percent Steam fee, of course. Since the game’s regular price is 5 euros, the actual total is likely even higher, depending on when the game was purchased.
A Divided Community
Such an accusation lingers atReddit goes unchallenged, of course, and in fact, a divide quickly emerges right down the middle of the comments section under the thread about the case. On one side is the camp that agrees with Covic and sees the Refunders’ behavior as simply unfair exploitation:
- Delicious-Pepper23: “There are many ways to steal something.”
- Mogura56:» “Yes, people have no problem stealing from billion-dollar game companies and Walmarts because they have billions of dollars. But when it comes to an indie title that was probably developed by 1 to 5 people, it actually hits those people hard—in a way that none of these corporations will ever feel.”
- too_many_nights:“For the guy who lost 55,000 sales just because Steam allowed it, it’s definitely a problem.”
On the other hand, more and more people are placing the blame on the developer himself for selling a game for such a short time and at such a low price:
- Bestialman:» Developers are familiar with Steam’s refund policies. Anyone who releases a very short game on Steam knows what they’re getting into.”
- UniverseGlory7866:“If a game can truly be completed 100 percent in under two hours with no incentive to replay it, you’re probably selling a game that’s little more than a mobile game.”
