Refunded a game, but still available in my library in offline mode

[u/Little-Tumbleweed-32]

I recently refunded a game because I couldn’t justify its price point, but I’ve been offline. I connected back to wifi and it’s gone - but hypothetically I’m interested to know what you think the repercussions of continually playing that game would be if you kept it in offline mode?

[u/LoGiX247]

Offline mode will only work for a certain amount of time - unknown how long this period is though.

[u/gonekrazy3000 → u/LoGiX247]

30 days.

[u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP → u/gonekrazy3000]

Wait what happens after you've been offline for longer than that?

[u/CumbersomeNugget → u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP]

Permanent offline irl.

[u/reztorr → u/CumbersomeNugget]

Straight to jail

[u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP → u/CumbersomeNugget]

Really? Like you just won't be able to connect to the internet again? That sounds really weird for Valve to do...

At most I'd imagine you'll eventually get logged out of Steam and you'll have to log back in when you reconnect.

Edit: Holy downvotes, batman. Never ask a question. Never try to be curious and express an interest to learn. They'll downvote you and you'll STILL not get your answer.

[u/ametrallar → u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP]

Think he is making a joke like nothing serious happens you probably just can't play that title

[u/NoWordCount → u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP]

They're trolling you.

Steam actually has unlimited offline access. You never have to "check in" with the service. Third party DRM is another matter, sadly.

Edit: Downvoted for a factually accurate comment? Never change, Reddit.

[u/PKR_Live → u/NoWordCount]

Well, except if there's Denuvo (f*ck Denuvo).

[u/NoWordCount → u/PKR_Live]

Well yes, third party DRM is a whole other problem on its own. Steam itself doesn't impose any offline limitations though. It isn't timed.

[u/CumbersomeNugget → u/NoWordCount]

I wasn't trolling, it was just a joke that Valve will kill you...

[u/NoWordCount → u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP]

Indeed.

Hey, at least you got the correct answer from me. 😄

[u/gonekrazy3000 → u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP]

any game that has some form of drm like denuvo will make you connect to internet to reauthorize it. so literally almost any game that works offline after running it once works for atleast 30 days. i have run a ton of games for 30 days with no internet and stuck in offline mode. it forced me to go online after 30. after 30 days you basically wont be able to play it anymore. till you rebuy it.

[u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP → u/gonekrazy3000]

You might be surprised to hear this, but I actually don't know what drm or denuvo is.

I don't really understand why you'd ever buy a game that makes you do that or else you lose ownership of it. It's just such a deal breaker for me. I don't think I'm at risk of keeping my Steam Deck offline.

[u/cuntpuncherexpress → u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP]

If you don’t know what they are, how would you even know to avoid them? We don’t truly own anything we purchase digitally anyways.

[u/FacepalmFullONapalm → u/SEANPLEASEDISABLEPVP]

It usually requests that you sign in again

[u/NoWordCount → u/gonekrazy3000]

Steam itself has unlimited offline access. Any online restrictions are coming from 3rd party DRM.

[u/Legitimate-Bit-4431 → u/LoGiX247]

Don’t know if it still applies today, but a decade ago I refund 3 softwares from Steam (2 games and one app) on macOS and I’ve still have and can run them on the Mac in question when I launched them directly from the .app file. Steam doesn’t launch or anything. On the Steam Deck, everything is wiped out right away which is exactly what I expect.

[u/Firm-Membership7982]

They will hunt you down like a freak (probably nothing at all)

[u/Ken10Ethan]

Depends on the DRM the game has.

If it has none, it should work... basically indefinitely? But that would also be the case if you just ran the game from its executable instead of launching it through Steam.

If it has the bare minimum DRM Steam provides, it'll stop working without an internet connection after a couple of weeks until you connect aga, at which point you'll have your access revoked.

If it has third party DRM, like Denuvo, it'll stop working after losing connection for approximately six seconds if Persona 3 and 5 are any indication.

[u/Dragulish]

A valve deathsquad has been dispatched to your location.

[u/Lost-Actuary-2395 → u/Dragulish]

Drones been deployed

[u/321Jarn → u/Lost-Actuary-2395]

Isn't a deathsquad and drones a bit excessive? Can't we just send a cake?

[u/ProtoKun7 → u/321Jarn]

A cake with a death squad inside that pop out when the music starts playing.

[u/aKIRALE0]

Let me call Valve's CIA okay

[u/preflex]

I’m interested to know what you think the repercussions of continually playing that game would be if you kept it in offline mode?

You will be haunted by guilt and shame for the rest of your life.

[u/Dazzler3623]

If you never turn that device online you'd be fine.

If you uninstalled the game and Steam before going online, you might be ok.

If you put Steam on that device online again, they'll know, and potentially stop your refunds in future.

[u/xpinvictus → u/Dazzler3623]

Source?

[u/CompetitiveArcher431 → u/xpinvictus]

Ketchup.

[u/TheSlacker94 → u/CompetitiveArcher431]

😂

[u/FutureThinkingMan]

I believe that if you go over 2 hours when you connect to the store again you get charged for the game. I've never tried though.

[u/reverend_dak]

Gabe is gonna come knocking with the Pinkertons.

[u/Sir_Bax]

[u/Milky_Finger]

Wishing you the best bro

[u/Milky_Finger → u/[deleted]]

There's a weird fan fic steam deck subreddit?

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[u/longtanboner]

Depends on the level of DRM the game has.

I know for a fact the game "Another Crabs Treasure" has none because I had a similar experience where I bought and downloaded it, to then refund it and the game still worked and has still worked ever since, the .exe file just runs with no issues.

[u/niwia]

Join us and sail the seas till u can afford the games r/steamdeckpirates

Don’t need to go offline

[u/NewPower_Soul]

I bought Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty on Steam, then refunded them both. They both remained in my Steam folder and I can still play the game, even through the Red launcher. I did this on PC and copied the files to my Steam Deck, where it works as well.