Multiple EA games disappeared from my account! *Resolved*

[RJGrayLight]

So I have had multiple games from EA that have been on my account since 2021 according to my purchase history just disappear when the latest sale for EA games started a few days ago. I've played all of these games for multiple hours, and two of these were even actively downloaded too.

When I try the steam support to get the games back on my account, it claims that I "requested to permanently remove this game", which I distinctly did not, would not have, and would not have been able to even if I had wanted to because of the amount of time I've had these games, and the number of hours I played on them. So now I have no idea what to do, because it seems like I'm getting scammed into repurchasing these games or to just not have them on my account anymore.

And the thing is, this isn't even the first time this has happened either, because there are apparently reports of this happening back in 2021 as well when a different EA sale happened. This is also reflected on my account history with the Dragon Age games which, apparently, I have now purchased three separate times since 2021! And yet, despite this, it appears that my purchase history doesn't reflect this for some reason? What is going on?!?

The games I lost (that I've noticed) are the following. There are likely more, but these are the ones I know of for certain.
Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate edition
Dragon Age 2
Dragon Age Inquisition
Mass Effect 1
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect Andromeda
Dead Space (2008)
Dead Space 2
Spore

So what can be done to fix this, or am I, and anyone else who's struggling with this issue, just getting scammed because Steam is removing games from accounts without our knowledge or consent?
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*Update 5/5/24.
Unless I'm misunderstanding the Steam Rep, it appears that the issue has been figured out. The issue was 3-fold.

1 - If you purchase a subscription service on steam, such as to EA, all the games that you gain access to are added to your account history, but not your purchase history. These games appear in the same format that purchased games do, though show as having been purchased from $0.00.

2 - For whatever reason, the games remained in my library for 8 weeks after the expiration of the subscription service and I was able to play them without interruption. Apparently, I should have lost access to them immediately, but I didn't. According to the Steam Rep, there is no Grace Period to renew a subscription.

3 - Steam doesn't provide an error message for when games are removed from your account due to a subscription service expiring, and only has the one message saying "you asked us to permanently remove the package ( [package name] ) which included [this product] from your account". Apparently, "the package" is referring to the EA subscription service in this case, and was supposed supposed to be included in the brackets, but wasn't.

So that appears to be what happened. It was a mixture of confusing account messages from steam, an extended grace period, my misunderstanding the difference between account and purchase histories on Steam, and steam's organization systems not properly reporting what caused the loss of my games.
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TL;DR
I thought I had owned the games because of three bugs occurring at the same time.
1. 8 week extended free access to the games.
2. Account and Download History showing transactions that never occurred.
3. Steam mislabeled the reason for the sudden loss of my games.
The EA sale fixed the bug giving me extended free access.
I lost all the EA games.
I was wrong when I believed I owned the EA games.

[RJGrayLight]

Originalmente postado por halfmonkey:

^ Good luck! If you have any email receipts of your original purchases, prep them links/screenshots for that conversation. I know I just aged myself, but keeping records of purchases (no matter how small) is a godsend when stuff goes wrong.

So there's an issue about using the steam purchase history. It's not showing any of those games unless I re-purchase them. I have the emails confirming that I did purchase those games before, and my account history when I try to recover the games shows that I did purchase them back in 2021. But they aren't showing in my purchase history...
So, uhm, what now? lol

[rawWwRrr]

Contacting Support is definitely the correct path to a solution. However, the act of games being delisted from the store doesn't cause those games to be removed from users libraries. Unless the game was obtained in a questionable manner, it's yours forever. There's probably a glitch or something more to the story that hasn't been explained.

[rawWwRrr]

Originalmente postado por RJGrayLight:

Originalmente postado por halfmonkey:

^ Good luck! If you have any email receipts of your original purchases, prep them links/screenshots for that conversation. I know I just aged myself, but keeping records of purchases (no matter how small) is a godsend when stuff goes wrong.

So there's an issue about using the steam purchase history. It's not showing any of those games unless I re-purchase them. I have the emails confirming that I did purchase those games before, and my account history when I try to recover the games shows that I did purchase them back in 2021. But they aren't showing in my purchase history...
So, uhm, what now? lol

Try starting here...
https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpAccountDataQuestion

[halfmonkey]

Originalmente postado por RJGrayLight:

Originalmente postado por halfmonkey:

^ Good luck! If you have any email receipts of your original purchases, prep them links/screenshots for that conversation. I know I just aged myself, but keeping records of purchases (no matter how small) is a godsend when stuff goes wrong.

So there's an issue about using the steam purchase history. It's not showing any of those games unless I re-purchase them. I have the emails confirming that I did purchase those games before, and my account history when I try to recover the games shows that I did purchase them back in 2021. But they aren't showing in my purchase history...
So, uhm, what now? lol

Explain this to Steam, with those screenshots. (I'm not sure, but I think there are means of attaching files to your support ticket.) Again, licensing is tricky and Steam is under no obligation to help rectify this, but if you calmly explain they might help.

If this fails, I'd suggest a friendly email to EA with as much "proof of purchase" as you can include. The trick is to ask, not demand. If you have socials with substantial followers, I'd recommend dropping this into the conversation.

[Carlos100]

Originalmente postado por halfmonkey:

The games you listed were all part of EA's "big breakout" when they launched their now maligned Origin system. The games were de-listed on Steam, then only recently re-listed.

It might be as stupid an issue as "they changed the Steam IDs" for your games.

My account still shows mass effect 2 and dead space 2 which i know i had so i doubt they changed any id's

[halfmonkey]

Originalmente postado por Carlos100:

Originalmente postado por halfmonkey:

The games you listed were all part of EA's "big breakout" when they launched their now maligned Origin system. The games were de-listed on Steam, then only recently re-listed.

It might be as stupid an issue as "they changed the Steam IDs" for your games.

My account still shows mass effect 2 and dead space 2 which i know i had so i doubt they changed any id's

I'm just offering suggestions in an attempt to help somebody.
If you know better, then why not say that instead?

Saying, "Well, I never had this problem." is akin to saying, "I laugh at your misfortune."
Don't be that person.

[RJGrayLight]

Originalmente postado por rawWwRrr:

Try starting here...
https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpAccountDataQuestion

Thanks for the link! I've put in an inquiry while providing screenshots for all 11 missing games.

[RJGrayLight]

Originalmente postado por halfmonkey:

Originalmente postado por Carlos100:

My account still shows mass effect 2 and dead space 2 which i know i had so i doubt they changed any id's

I'm just offering suggestions in an attempt to help somebody.
If you know better, then why not say that instead?

While I definitely appreciate your help halfmonkey as you've been most helpful so far, what Carlos100 says is actually helpful. Sure, it pokes a hole in our current theory, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing going on. It just disproves the current theory. At least, that's how I'm taking it at any rate. Because if it was a change in the steam ID's, wouldn't that be universal and apply to everyone? So if there's someone who still has copies of the games that disappeared from my account, that means that it's likely not an issue of the steam id for those games getting changed, as everyone would have lost access.

[halfmonkey]

^All good. I was just trying to help. Good luck!

[RJGrayLight]

I was digging through my purchase history (not on steam, but my emails and bank records), and I noticed that I purchased these games on the same day, in the same purchase even, that I also bought an EA subscription that just expired.

Do you think that what I'm experiencing is a bug that resulted in an EA subscription expiring on the same day that a big EA games sale occurs, that removed everything that was purchased at the same time as the subscription from my account and purchase history? This might also explain why steam is claiming that I requested the games to be permanently removed from my account when I did no such thing.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Let us know what support said.

[RJGrayLight]

Originalmente postado por Muppet among Puppets:

Let us know what support said.

So far, all they're saying is that my EA subscription ended, and because of that I lost access to my games. They haven't responded to me yet when I asked about why it said I requested the games to be removed if it's a subscription ending situation. They also haven't responded regarding the fact that I did purchase some of those games before I even bought the EA subscription. So essentially, nothing worthwhile has been learned just yet unfortunately. :/

[Muppet among Puppets]

Originalmente postado por RJGrayLight:

Originalmente postado por Muppet among Puppets:

Let us know what support said.

So far, all they're saying is that my EA subscription ended, and because of that I lost access to my games. They haven't responded to me yet when I asked about why it said I requested the games to be removed if it's a subscription ending situation. They also haven't responded regarding the fact that I did purchase some of those games before I even bought the EA subscription. So essentially, nothing worthwhile has been learned just yet unfortunately. :/

Tell them that you lost games you bought when the subscription ended.

[Carlos100]

Did anybody check ops games as half the ones they said were missing show in their games list

[Lumberjackson]

I'm only seeing the 3 Dragon Age games, not the others he listed.