Steam is surprisingly good at offering refunds. So if you find a subscription wall you don't agree to after you bought a game, Steam will almost certainly refund your money.
Had the opposite experience after a game stopped working 3 days after purchase due to its update (forced, if memory serves). Valve refused the refund because I played the game for more than 2 hours before it stopped working. Haven't purchased anything from Valve since.
I’ve even made it a personal policy to only buy digital only games through steam.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/australia-fines-valve-over-...