So, I had a giveaway of XCOM: Enemy Unknown recently, but as it turns out quite a few people couldn't enter because the site thinks they own the game -- because they played it during the free weekend.

I contacted support and this is a bug in the Steam API that gives SG.com the list of games you own, so there's nothing they can do. If re-syncing your account doesn't help, the situation should resolve itself in a week or so as the game disappears.

This sucks, though, because people who actually tried the game are now being punished for it. So, I'm organizing a little giveaway on the side especially for you. The rules are as follows:

  • On your Steam profile, XCOM must be listed as "Recently Played", while it does not exist under "All Games". If this is the case, you are unable to enter a regular giveaway because the site thinks you own the game. To test this, try entering an existing giveaway (like this one) and it should say "Exists in Your Account". Try re-syncing your account first to see if that resolves the problem.
  • Your Steam profile must be public or else I can't verify this or send you the gift if you win (since I can't see your e-mail address).

If this applies to you, post in this thread. Registration is open from now until Monday 14th at 06:00 UTC. Or thereabouts. The forum doesn't show exact times, so registration is over exactly when I say it's over. I will also edit this post when that happens.

I will tally the accounts and use random.org to pick a winner, who will be announced here. Copy will be sent through Steam whenever we're both online. Results are non-negotiable, offer void where prohibited, etcetera. :-)

Update: entering the giveaway has ended with 40 valid entries who qualify.

Congratulations orestisf, you're the winner!

11 years ago*

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DON'T ADD ME but bless your heart.

11 years ago
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That's really awesome of you :D
And actually I'm one of those "unlucky" people that enjoyed XCOM during the free weekend ^^
fast link for you

11 years ago
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Count me in :3

Thanks for chance :3

11 years ago
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nice idea, thumbs up for that, good luck to all who apply

11 years ago
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Thanks for the chance, I tried it on the free weekend and enjoyed it a lot

11 years ago
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That's awesome of you, man!
Please add me to the contest, if you don't mind, I managed to log 20 hours while the game was free, a rather addicting one.
Steam profile

11 years ago
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thanks :)

11 years ago
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This is very kind of you, but I just thought I'd note that many people get the "Exists" problem even if they did not play the game during the free weekend (I've had this issue with a couple of different games).

P.S. I already own XCOM so I'm not entering, but thanks again for being so damn kind!

11 years ago
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If that's the case then it's really a bug that ought to be looked into (as opposed to "it's Steam, we can't help it") but I hope you get why I can't just open it up to everyone who says they have this problem without a way for me to verify it. So if there's anyone out there who can't enter a giveaway for apparently no good reason at all, please take it up with support.

11 years ago
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Nope that is normal. During a free weekend a game gets added to your library. So when the API reads your game date it sees it as OWNED. When you dont play the game and do a forced sync after the free weekend ends then you won't have the game listed in your games list anymore as you have no gametime logged on it. That is working correctly. Best bet: Don't sync your games during a free weekend when you can avoid it. ;) Also don't play the free games if you don't intend to buy them the normal way.

11 years ago
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So when the API reads your game date it sees it as OWNED.

I can get that.

When you dont play the game and do a forced sync after the free weekend ends then you won't have the game listed in your games list anymore as you have no gametime logged on it. That is working correctly.

Except it's not. Multiple people have reported the site continues to report the game as owned despite forced syncing after the free weekend. At that point the game is not listed in Steam as owned but only as recently played -- yet you can't enter giveaways anyway. Support itself has confirmed this will automatically resolve itself once the game drops from your "recently played" list, but that takes a while (and has nothing to do with when you sync).

Also don't play the free games if you don't intend to buy them the normal way.

Yeah, except people can play the games to see if they would buy them, so that's not very helpful. :-)

11 years ago
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I always sync after checking my account info for no complimentary addons. And of course I thoroughly enjoyed X-Com, so a little inconvenience is worth the enjoyable.

11 years ago
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I have the exists in your account thing currently though I've synched a couple times since last weekend. It was a great game from what I saw.

11 years ago
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thx :)

11 years ago
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It's awesome of you to go to such extends for other people , thank you .

11 years ago
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You've beaten Super Hexagon? Damn. I've been playing for 2 hours and I'm at 48 seconds of stage 1...

11 years ago
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thank you

11 years ago
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great chance,hope lucky's on my side
THANKS

11 years ago
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I have to agree this is a very kind move. Thanks for being part of the community. :)
(Not entering though because I don't match the requirements.)

11 years ago
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Count me in! This is my steam profile. Thanks a lot!

11 years ago
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I had that problem without having played on the free weekend.
I believed that since I synced during a free weekend steam gifts thought I have the game.
It was resolved when I synced after the free weekend.
I guess I don't qualify. :(

11 years ago
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Correct. If it's resolved you can just enter regular giveaways, so no reason why you shouldn't. This is especially for the people who are completely locked out at the moment. Also, I can't check if there's a problem, and I don't want to just add everyone who posts here, since that defeats the purpose.

11 years ago
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Great idea.
I'd love to be in.
Thanks.

11 years ago
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I'd like to be in on it too. Thanks for the chance.
BTW, how long does a free weekend game usually "exist" in the library?

11 years ago
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I think "recently played" covers two weeks (since it says "X hours registered the past two weeks"). So, it should exist for at most two weeks after playing it -- but I have no data to back this up with.

Also, in theory, you can bump a game off the list by playing enough other games, and then maybe the sync works correctly too. Again, no data. :-)

11 years ago
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no, that doesnt work. i had that problem for about 4 months a year ago and tried everything to fix it

11 years ago
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I would like to be in too.

11 years ago
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Not in but very nice giveaway. I won Xcom a few weeks ago and have enjoyed what I've played so far alot! Excited for the expansion/dlc they are coming out with. Also, I'm not sure if it works anymore but someone did mention if you add one of the free weekend games to the top 15 of your wishlist, than sync, SG will count that and may be allowed to enter.

11 years ago
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I would like to be in too.

11 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 1 year ago.

11 years ago
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Thx for the chance please count me in.

11 years ago
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Count me in,please.

11 years ago
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Count me in please :)

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by Nudiustertian.