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Thunder Tier One refund issues, dev is working on a solution

Thunder Tier One, a top-down tactical shooter, transitioned to free-to-play the other day and offered refunds for everyone. But some players are having issues.

Matt Buckley

Thunder Tier One refund issues, dev is working on a solution, image source: Thunder Tier One, Developer: Krafton.
Thunder Tier One refund issues, dev is working on a solution Source: Thunder Tier One, Developer: Krafton.

If you are having trouble getting a refund for your purchase of Thunder Tier One now that it is free to play, you are not alone. Thankfully, the development team behind the game is aware of the issue and is working on a fix. Thunder Tier One is a co-operative top-down tactical shooter that was originally released back in December of 2021 for $19.99, but as of two days ago, on May 12th, it has become free to play. Krafton, the team behind the game, did something unusual, offering refunds to anyone who’s ever bought the game.

Thunder Tier One offers refunds for everyone as it goes free-to-play, but encounters issues

Typically, anyone can receive a refund for a Steam game, as long as they choose to do so before playing two hours of the game and it’s within two weeks of the purchase date. Over the years, other games have also transitioned from a purchase to free-to-play. Not to call out two games specifically, but I Fall Guys also making the transition. I don’t being offered refunds at any point, but that was never expected. That’s part of what makes this Thunder Tier One situation so unusual.

Thunder Tier One announced the change on Steam in April, following the “shutdown of Thunder Tier One multiplayer servers…” They explained that this shutdown was caused by multiple factors, including “…the game’s overall development direction, a declining player base, and the challenges of maintaining the servers.” So, while the game is becoming free-to-play, it has not received any updates since at least October 2023 and won’t get any new updates going forward. However, they shared that a “refund will be available regardless of purchase date or playtime, ensuring that all affected players have the opportunity to receive compensation.” The process for this transition began on May 12th, and it hasn’t gone perfectly.

Today, just a few days after going free-to-play, the team behind Thunder Tier One shared an update on Steam titled: “Thunder Tier One Refund Issue – Apology and Update.” This was posted early this morning, Pacific time, so it is an ongoing issue. Steam doesn’t typically allow for these kinds of refunds, so it does make sense that there might be a few bumps in the road. Hopefully, it will be sorted out quickly. In the new update, the team says, “…we’ve continued to receive reports that refunds are still not being processed correctly, and we take this situation very seriously… We are working closely with Steam to address the issue and will continue to follow up until it is fully resolved.”

Overall, Thunder Tier One has received Mixed reviews from Steam s since its release. At the time of writing, it has 65% positive reviews from over four thousand s. But at least some players enjoyed their time with the game and respect the developer's decision to offer refunds. A positive review from last week, which had over twenty hours on record, wrote, “Game is transitioning to F2P and the devs are giving full refunds! As a consumer that is amazing! But I feel I’ve got my money’s worth from the game so I will not be refunding. Mad respect to the dev!” If you are looking for a refund, keep an eye on the game’s Steam page. The developers will likely post an update soon.

Thunder Tier One

December 7, 2021

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Matt Buckley

Author: Matt Buckley

After studying creative writing at Emerson College in Boston, Matt published a travel blog based on a two-month solo journey around the world, wrote for SmarterTravel, and worked on an Antarctic documentary series for NOVA, Antarctic Extremes. Today, for Gamepressure, Matt covers Nintendo news and writes reviews for Switch and PC titles. Matt enjoys RPGs like Pokemon and Breath of the Wild, as well as fighting games like Super Smash Bros., and the occasional action game like Ghostwire Tokyo or Gods Will Fall. Outside of video games, Matt is also a huge Dungeons & Dragons nerd, a fan of board games like Wingspan, an avid hiker, and after recently moving to California, an amateur surfer.