GOG is putting faith in humanity with a 30-day refund window on games you’ve played
GOG is offering gamers a 30-day refund window, even on games that they have launched and played.
The digital game store has changed its refunds policy, extending the period in which gamers can ask for a refund to 30 days. That outstrips competitors like Steam and Epic Games Store, both of which offer 14-day refund periods.
On Steam and the Epic Games Store, a refund can be requested as long as a gamer has played less than two hours of the game in question. Conversely, GOG doesn’t implement that condition. You can play a game for as long as you like, within the 30-day window, before asking for a refund.
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However, GOG have considered that some gamers might try to take advantage of this. As a result, GOG warned store users against doing so:
“We trust that you’re making informed purchasing decisions and will use this updated voluntary Refund Policy only if something doesn’t work as you expected.
“This is why there are no limits but instead, we reserve the right to refuse refunds in individual cases.
“Please respect all the time and hard work put into making the games you play and remember that refunds are not reviews. If you finished the game and didn’t like it, please consider sharing your opinion instead. Also, please don’t take advantage of our trust by asking for an unreasonable amount of games to be refunded. Don’t be that person. No one likes that person.”
We always believed in a 'gamers-first’ approach and with this voluntary update to our Refund Policy you can get a full refund up to 30 days after purchasing a product, even if you downloaded, launched, and played it.
More details – https://t.co/WfwZkyLkbo
— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) February 26, 2020
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We can see why GOG backed up the policy-change with a warning. This sounds like it would be pretty easy for gamers to take advantage of by finishing a game within the 30-day window and then requesting a refund.
If there is a lot of this kind of behaviour, we could see the refund window scaled back. It will also be interesting to see whether competitors follow suit in extending their own refund windows.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.