You can now permanently delete games from your Steam library

Exterminator

Community Manager
Thread author
Verified
Staff Member
Well-known
Oct 23, 2012
12,527
Steam has long been a staple when it has come to buying games online and easily dwarfs competitors like EA's Origin, which only recently ceased sales of physical media last year. Steam was one of the first major platforms that focused upon digital delivery of games through its online store, but has also branched out to sell non-game software in more recent years.

A major benefit of Steam's digital delivery is that a game can be installed using the service without much hassle. Steam keeps things organized and offers a wide variety of options from major and indie publishers. However, as numerous Steam sales have rolled through year after year, it is without a doubt that some users game libraries have amassed quite a collection of titles.

Naturally, some items in your library may contain some well played games with hundreds or thousands of hours of gameplay clocked up against them. Yet, there may be a small number of truly terrible games which were never brought up to scratch that you ignore, hoping they will silently disappear.

Well, now there is a way to deal with those "regret spends" by deleting them permanently from your Steam library as follows:

  1. Login to Steam Support using your Steam account
  2. Locate and click on the game you wish to disown using the search box at the bottom of the page
  3. Click on the option to permanently remove the game from your account
permanently_delete_steam_game_story.jpg

While this should work for all games, it works differently for some games or DLC bought in a bundle. In these situations, you cannot delete a single game item from the package - you're only option is to delete the entire package from your library. In other words, be careful when pruning back your Steam library.

While you may not need to use this capability all that often, it could be an ideal way to make short work of "regret spends" such as Ashes Cricket 2013 which was infamously canceled after being released on Steam.

Source: NeoGAF via Kotaku
 

SloppyMcFloppy

Level 13
Verified
Sep 12, 2015
617
This is bad. If your Steam account get hack, the unauthorize user can get delete all your games off your library.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Moose

DracusNarcrym

Level 20
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Oct 16, 2015
970
About time, what a hassle trying to get steam support to do anything.
About time, indeed! Cheap is good, but some games just need to be removed sometimes, also many games turn out worse than expected and it's usually quite some time after you bought them that you realize if they are worth it or not...
This is bad. If your Steam account get hack, the unauthorize user can get delete all your games off your library.
I bet it will require extra authorization steps to avoid any such cases.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Moose
I

illumination

This is bad. If your Steam account get hack, the unauthorize user can get delete all your games off your library.
Not only does steam require an email address for verification, but they also offer verification via text messages to your phone. In order to delete a game, you have to sign in to their support page which requires a code that is sent to your email. If your steam was to be hacked, the person doing so would need your user name and password, and email account credentials to even think about it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Moose

DracusNarcrym

Level 20
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Oct 16, 2015
970
Not only does steam require an email address for verification, but they also offer verification via text messages to your phone. In order to delete a game, you have to sign in to their support page which requires a code that is sent to your email. If your steam was to be hacked, the person doing so would need your user name and password, and email account credentials to even think about it.
True! The new mobile authentication function is also extremely secure, since the hacker would also need to obtain your phone physically or somehow hijack it and find the code, which is largely impossible.
 

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top