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[Hockeymac18]

This isn't for after you finish it and decide it wasn't as good as you had hoped. This is for if you bought a game and it's unplayable or has severe technical problems and you want your money back. It shouldn't be a hassle to do so.

Yes. Exactly.

And also, there's an interesting implication being made here by people thinking 2 hours is too short...do you think you deserve to basically play the entire game, and then get your money back when the game doesn't live up to your expectations? That seems a bit unfair, no?


I don't know, I'd feel kind of dirty doing that, personally...

What if a game displays its severe technical issues, at like, 5 hours? Or even further, like Skyrim on PS3?

Is this a common thing to have happen? I'd think if a game has serious technical issues, those issues would be apparent within 2 hours of playtime. I suppose there are exceptions here...and perhaps in those cases, they could be handled individually by customer support (i.e. like it's handled now).

But opening things up to a longer play time for all games just screams "exploit!" to me.

 

[Zedox]

Have to give credit where its due, in terms of service and platform MS have nailed it.

Really hope they have the same principled approach to 1P/2P games as well.

I said this on twitter but if MS ever gets the games that change the narrative around Xbox 1P games, Sony will have to worry because there will be some serious competition as the services around Xbox is strong and better than any other vendor. It's good for 3P games currently, but getting the hardcore to start being interested in Xbox's offerings will hurt those 3rd party sales.

I'm happy for competition. I like when these companies make it good for us. Looking forward to E3.

 

[K.Jack]

This isn't for after you finish it and decide it wasn't as good as you had hoped. This is for if you bought a game and it's unplayable or has severe technical problems and you want your money back. It shouldn't be a hassle to do so.

What if a game displays its severe technical issues, at like, 5 hours? Or even further, like Skyrim on PS3?

I definitely understand, that shorter games need to be protected from refund abuse, but some genres are too long for a 2 hour limit.

 

[Chill Penguin]

What if a game displays its severe technical issues, at like, 5 hours? Or even further, like Skyrim on PS3?

I definitely understand, that shorter games need to be protected from refund abuse, but some genres are too long for a 2 hour limit.

In a case like that I think you would have to call support and explain the situation.

 

[CertifiedFP]

Hmm, can't help but think that Microsoft doing this might end up being a boon for Sony's 3rd party relations now that PSN is now the sole digital storefront for the high-end gaming platforms to not have refunds.

Great for consumers, and full kudos to Microsoft for finally doing what was right here, but I'm certain the big 3rd-parties (Esp. Warner Bros, who all but pulled-out of Steam because of Refunds) are fuming internally over this.

Sony better follow.

Nintendo never will.

They won't.

#4The3rdParties

We already have a real-world example of a major 3rd Party reacting adversely to refunds (Warner Bros' games and DLCs going consoles-only for a period after Steam introduced them, for example), and Sony has literally no reason to when the majority of console gamers are already locked into the PlayStation ecosystem.

I could see a chance of Nintendo choosing to, however, in light of how many good decisions they've been making with the Switch.

 

[zMiiChy-]

Great move by Microsoft.
Sony better follow.

Nintendo never will.

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

What if a game displays its severe technical issues, at like, 5 hours? Or even further, like Skyrim on PS3?

I definitely understand, that shorter games need to be protected from refund abuse, but some genres are too long for a 2 hour limit.

Call them up and ask for a refund. I said it in this thread already but I got a refund for a game after playing for 10+ hours because it had a couple of bugs and was a bit shit in general. Didn't take more than five minutes.

 

[DJSebolski]

Free First Hour should be the standard. Just like most Early Access releases.

 

[UpUpDownDown]

I too crave less rights as a consumer.

Dumb people don't deserve to be catered to.

This kind of behaviour gave the US it's president xD

Seriously though. Tastes are subjective. A broken game is objective. Big difference.

 

[jmaine_ph]

Great move MS. They are really nailing this features/services stuff. Take notes Sony/Nintendo.

 

[Zombie James]

as opposed to people playing through an entire game and being able to refund it?

Two hours isn't enough for many games. Two hours barely gets you out of Horizon's introduction, for example.

The length for an eligible return should depend on the game not be an arbitrary number.

 

[scitek]

Cloud gaming, family sharing, Games with Gold, now this...

Microsoft continues to pioneer the digital space.

 

[Misterhbk]

Less than 2 hours of gameplay? Why would I be returning a game I haven't played? I mean I guess shit happens, but why buy it if you won't even play for 2 hours? Even GameStop gives you a week. And they're terrible.

I guess it's a start though. I just have personally never been in this situation where I bought a game digitally and less tha. 2 hours in said "fuck this."

 

[texhnolyze]

I hope Nintendo and Sony follow.

This.

One time refund for a lifetime from Sony is such a joke. It's an insult, even.

 

[pargonta]

Refunds, nice. Trade ins and rentals need to be next and then we're golden.

 

[Night.Ninja]

Less than 2 hours of gameplay? Why would I be returning a game I haven't played? I mean I guess shit happens, but why buy it if you won't even play for 2 hours? Even GameStop gives you a week. And they're terrible.

I guess it's a start though. I just have personally never been in this situation where I bought a game digitally and less tha. 2 hours in said "fuck this."

 

[almostjuliuscaesar]

niceee. one step closer to digital games being treated like just digital versions of discs & not entirely separate products

 

[Jack The Nipper]

I honestly agree with a lot of this, but the fact of the matter is that our economy (at least in the USA) has been built on unnecessary spending. If everyone just started only buying the things they need, and shedding their desires for things, we would lose whole segments of our economy and the markets would crumble. It sounds ridiculous but it's the truth.

In Pocket Card Jockey (fantastic 3DS game, go try the demo!) the "Mr. Blingman" character, one of several horse owners, initially looks like a rich jerk, but as you win with his horses and converse with him, you find that he just has a really good understanding of how the economy works. He says that if you have money to spare, that you should spend it on the things you like, because it is up to those with money to support those things. For example, horse racing. Nobody needs to own a race horse, he explains, but if wealthy people didn't buy them, there would no longer be any horse racing for anyo

I should stop before I go any further off topic, lol

Life is what we see and we just do what is set before us. But why the self loathe to land and county I swear everything is about self in all ways. Selfishness really seems to e key in everything it seems..

I don't like the business world or mentality but does ms really care the consumer or self here. Who knows

 

[Misterhbk]

Suck it.

 

[HeelPower]

Does this essentially mean a potential 2 hour demo on every digital purchase ?

Could be a great way to try out games you're iffy on.

 

[Dubz]

Glad to see this. Your move, Sony.

 

[PG2G]

Does this essentially mean a potential 2 hour demo on every digital purchase ?

Could be a great way to try out games you're iffy on.

Sounds like that falls under abuse on stores with similar policies.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

Less than 2 hours of gameplay? Why would I be returning a game I haven't played? I mean I guess shit happens, but why buy it if you won't even play for 2 hours? Even GameStop gives you a week. And they're terrible.

I guess it's a start though. I just have personally never been in this situation where I bought a game digitally and less tha. 2 hours in said "fuck this."

Suck it.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Appreciated feature, nice one 👍🏻

 

[HeelPower]

Sounds like that falls under abuse on stores with similar policies.

Yeah,you probably can't abuse it.

Its still a fucking great option for xbox users.

 

[mike6467]

Less than 2 hours of gameplay? Why would I be returning a game I haven't played? I mean I guess shit happens, but why buy it if you won't even play for 2 hours? Even GameStop gives you a week. And they're terrible.

I guess it's a start though. I just have personally never been in this situation where I bought a game digitally and less tha. 2 hours in said "fuck this."

What game can you not grab an initial impression from after 2 hours of gameplay? I'm legitimately curious.

I'm looking at all the games I'm playing now/recently, and outside of Persona 5, all of them give a good look into the gameplay in the first two hours (and P5 still gives you a good idea of the style/narrative you'd be stepping into). Horizon, Yakuza, Nier (which had a 30 minute demo on that front), pretty much any racing game....Hitman...

I mean, even deep sims like Civ VI, Total War and Stellaris will give you a window into what to expect going forward after two hours. Giantbomb does Quick Looks for games that range from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours, and those are designed to let people know what the game is all about.

I'm really curious as to what time limit you think would make sense. How is that number justified?

 

[zMiiChy-]

Hmm, can't help but think that Microsoft doing this might end up being a boon for Sony's 3rd party relations now that PSN is now the sole digital storefront for the high-end gaming platforms to not have refunds.

Great for consumers, and full kudos to Microsoft for finally doing what was right here, but I'm certain the big 3rd-parties (Esp. Warner Bros, who all but pulled-out of Steam because of Refunds) are fuming internally over this.



They won't.

#4The3rdParties

We already have a real-world example of a major 3rd Party reacting adversely to refunds (Warner Bros' games and DLCs going consoles-only for a period after Steam introduced them, for example), and Sony has literally no reason to when the majority of console gamers are already locked into the PlayStation ecosystem.

I could see a chance of Nintendo choosing to, however, in light of how many good decisions they've been making with the Switch.

I honestly can't disagree with you regarding Sony, but I fail to see how the possibility of Nintendo making the decision to incorporate a refund policy is higher than it ever would be.

They've proven they're still capable of producing good hardware and games, but their decision to implement a paid online service and their recent PR statements regarding Switch hardware defects hasn't instilled faith in them for me.

I still struggle to find significant discounts on most several year old games available on their platforms, so I can't fathom why they would risk losing money by offering their customers refunds.

The fact that they still can't issue any announcements concerning VC on the Switch is appalling.

 

[~Kinggi~]

I actually kinda want a scorpio if the BC and games status checks out. I have a fuckton of 360 games and have kept them, was my console of choice. But boy did i do the 180 into Sony's loving arms. But MS has been pretty persistent and out of their desperation is trying to do every goodwill thing they can think of. Basically Scorpio seems like a good time to replace my 360 on the tv stand.

 

[Elandyll]

Hope Sony (and Nin) follow suite, but why do I have this feeling it'll get abused?

 

[Blastoise]

I'm 100% behind this.

Every consumer facing company should follow suit. At least for digital purchases.

 

[SenkiDala]

That's an awesome, awesome news! Makes me want to get my digital games on my XO instead of PS4.

Give me an online "customer market" to sell your old games online and I'm going full digital.

But... Do we have a chance to see that coming? I heard some things about Steam doing it but they didn't.

And I mean, if, let's say Gears 5, comes out and is 69,99€ sold by MS. People play it, finish it, and sell it on the "used games MS online shop" for 30€. Who will keep paying 69,99€ for the MS version? It's digital so there's no point in prefering a version among another... Or maybe giving special goods to the "official MS version" that can't be resold? Like skins, in game items, avatar, themes, etc? I dunno how they could do that...

But if they do I go all digital.

 

[Kyoufu]

This is really awesome and a much needed feature. I'm much more likely to buy something on their services now.

 

[vg260]

This is a nice step and a reasonable policy.

I hope it puts more pressure on Sony for their awful refund policies and generally abysmal customer support.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

Hope Sony (and Nin) follow suite, but why do I have this feeling it'll get abused?

Everything does.

It's hard to have any fairness in life.

 

[godhandiscen]

I love this. I see myself buying more games now.

 

[J-Skee]

Less than 2 hours of gameplay? Why would I be returning a game I haven't played? I mean I guess shit happens, but why buy it if you won't even play for 2 hours? Even GameStop gives you a week. And they're terrible.

I guess it's a start though. I just have personally never been in this situation where I bought a game digitally and less tha. 2 hours in said "fuck this."

Wait, what? A few years ago, I bought a game I absolutely hated. Finished the campaign within​that same day, then took it back the next day. They gave me trade-in credit for it. Are you saying that they give you full refunds within the week?

 

[psyfi]

Holy shit. This is so unexpected and awesome.

 

[Alienfan]

Hopefully Sony, Uplay and Nintendo follow suit!

 

[The Albatross]

It's awesome, hoping Sony matches.
THere's plenty of games I would have returned...

case in point, bought Tropico 5 the other weekend while drunk off my ass at literally 3 in the morning. I woke up, didn't know what time it was, wanted to play a laid bac game, bought Tropico for like $50, fell asleep again, and then the next morning realized I bough ti and don't really have any intention of playing it. Loved Tropico 2 or 3 but wont play on a console.

WOuld liek to return... but probably too late. If only I had that then.

 

[Bsigg12]

Does this essentially mean a potential 2 hour demo on every digital purchase ?

Could be a great way to try out games you're iffy on.

If you want to get your refund right revoked in the first week, sure. That'll probably fall under their abuse policy which they won't publicly make available because then people would just try to game it as much as possible.

 

[ArtHands]

Come on Sony, stop being so backward. Nintendo please take note too!

Does this essentially mean a potential 2 hour demo on every digital purchase ?

Could be a great way to try out games you're iffy on.

I'm sure you will get ban if you abuse it.

 

[vg260]

I probably need to read the policy in full to see how they handle purchases made with expiring Microsoft promotional credit. I'm guessing you lose it.

 

[Syrus]

Yes. Exactly.

And also, there's an interesting implication being made here by people thinking 2 hours is too short...do you think you deserve to basically play the entire game, and then get your money back when the game doesn't live up to your expectations? That seems a bit unfair, no?


I don't know, I'd feel kind of dirty doing that, personally...



Is this a common thing to have happen? I'd think if a game has serious technical issues, those issues would be apparent within 2 hours of playtime. I suppose there are exceptions here...and perhaps in those cases, they could be handled individually by customer support (i.e. like it's handled now).

But opening things up to a longer play time for all games just screams "exploit!" to me.

Asssssins creed unity , halo MCC to name a few.

Or people ordering a game they may like but end up not liking.

People that bought ME3 then read all the issues etc

 

[Rival]

Seems like this can only be a good thing. Props to MS.

 

[silva1991]

That's awesome. Your turn Sony.

 

[Klocker]

Oh shit, finally!
yea I have had about two or three games that at the two jour mark I would have returned this gen... and it still pisses me off whenever I see them on my list. Lol

Spoiler

thief for example... oh god, and Asseto Corsa had some of the worst stuttering ever

 

[Hedonism Bot]

Brilliant move, it's made a big impact to my spending on Steam when I'm unsure about how certain games will run, so I now end up buying more games than I used to. As others have said, Your move, Sony.

It can't be more than 2 hours though due to the length of certain games. It was dodgy as balls when people rushed through Firewatch and then refunded it because it was within the 2 hour limit. Would be great if there was a way of tying achievements unlocked to eligibility for refunds, perhaps linking the completion achievement or a mid story achievement if they can justify it?

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Good on them. Sony?

 

[Darkspineslayer]

This kind of policy seeing adoption by someone as big as MS is commendable and makes me feel a lot better about the potential of an all digital future. Doesn't solve all the problems but some recourse for a broken game besides "fuck you got mine" is good.

 

[NoMoreTrolls]

Aww yiss. Good shit