Valve support wins praise after restoring games a Steam user deleted during depressive episodes

[zohaibahd]

In context: Steam has long let players permanently remove games from their accounts. One user ended up using that option far more than they wanted to as a result of years of depressive and manic episodes. Plenty of the games they deleted were ones they'd played and loved, so they eventually asked Steam Support if any could be brought back. Less than 14 hours later, an agent replied to say the games had been restored.

The user, who goes by 3lizardintrenchcoat on Reddit, shared the support ticket on r/Steam in late November 2025. In it, they admitted the request felt "insane and over the top" before asking whether some of the paid games they had deleted over the years could be brought back.

They also offered an easier fallback in case that wasn't possible. All they wanted was a list of every game they'd ever played on the account, free ones included. As they pointed out, Steam's purchase history only shows games that are still active and that were paid for, so it couldn't fill in the gaps on its own.

An agent named Lucy replied early the next morning, confirming a restore to the user's library. If anything still seemed to be missing, she offered to send over the full list of previously owned games, too.

The story got a second life this week after the Waste.gg account posted a screenshot of the exchange on X. That post described it as a restore of the user's "entire game library" and has since crossed 2.2 million views. Strictly speaking, though, the reply only mentions "your game" in the singular, so exactly how many titles came back hasn't been confirmed.

– Waste.gg (@skinwaste) November 3, 2026

Valve's support team has racked up a few of these moments lately. Back in June, it sent a new dad a free Steam Deck OLED carrying case after his newborn threw up on the original. He had only asked whether he could buy a new one. Gestures like that arguably carry a bit more weight coming from a store that, since 2024, reminds buyers at checkout that a purchase only gets them a license.

Even so, Steam's "permanent" removal tool has never been quite as final as its name suggests. Anyone who remembers a removed game can search for it through Steam Support, choose "It's not in my library," and restore the old license in a couple of clicks. But Steam doesn't provide players with a list of the games they've removed. That's the exact gap this user ran into before support stepped in.

Permalink to story:

Valve support wins praise after restoring games a Steam user deleted during depressive episodes

 

[Hellbishop]

This is why I love STEAM. They have every imaginable circumstance covered and are so pro consumer its incredible. When it comes to sale's they have had so many this year it's as if they are just using these smaller sale events as a secret excuse to extend their holiday sales. STEAM a store front where quality service, compassion and fun for the consumer is the brand.

 

[Taroo]

This is not surprising that they still have data in the database covering all your purchased products.
That feature is clearly a display-only one.

Anyway that's great to read that his library was eventually restored.

 

[magoid]

For now you can trust Valve to have your back when we talk about preserving your games (in a reasonable manner). For example I can download and play games like Outrun 2006, that was delisted long ago when the Ferrari license expired.

But the day will come when Gaben will not be there anymore, so treasure it while you can, because once they make the shares public, it will be just another despised tech company.