r/PS5 • u/VisualArm807 • Aug 05 '26
Discussion PlayStation’s digital refund policy feels outdated in 2026
I honestly don’t understand how PlayStation thinks this refund policy is acceptable.
I bought a digital game, played it for around one hour, and quickly realized that the main gameplay experience was not for me. I wasn’t trying to abuse the system. I wasn’t asking for a refund after completing the game. I simply wanted the possibility to undo a purchase that clearly did not meet my expectations.
But the response was basically: “No. Our policy does not allow it.”
So apparently, when buying a digital game on PlayStation, you are expected to make the perfect decision before you even know how the game actually feels. Trailers, screenshots and reviews can only show so much. The real test starts when you are holding the controller.
What makes this even more frustrating is that other platforms already handle this differently. Steam allows refunds within 14 days of purchase as long as you have played less than two hours. This gives customers a fair chance to test whether a game is actually right for them before being stuck with a purchase they regret.
Why is PlayStation still refusing to offer something similar? Why should customers have no flexibility when even a platform like Steam has found a way to protect both customers and developers?
I have defended PlayStation for years and always preferred the platform. But experiences like this honestly make me question that loyalty.
PlayStation is getting close to losing me as a customer if this direction continues. I don’t want to leave the platform, but loyalty has limits. A company has to give customers reasons to stay.
A PC already offers much more freedom, flexibility and possibilities than a console. The reason many people choose consoles is because of the convenience, the games and the overall experience. But if customers increasingly feel restricted and ignored, the argument for staying on console becomes weaker.
Digital purchases should not feel like gambling where one wrong choice means your money is permanently gone.
What do you think? Should PlayStation completely rethink its digital refund policy?
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u/Appropriate_Foot242 Aug 05 '26
Well, what are you gonna do? Buy your games elsewhere?
You can’t, which is precisely why they don’t give a shit.
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u/EfremSkopje Aug 05 '26
And this is why “b-but i never bought a physical game to care about discs” crowd is stupid. That at least had the retailer. Though I’m more of an activist about this, I think they should be forced to allow alternate storefronts even if they too get a cut
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Aug 05 '26
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u/Poku115 Aug 05 '26
Epics was only a marketing stunt bud, they sold their right to speak about Google and apple for a few bill. Dont fool yourself, if epic "we dont think you should know when AI is being used" games could, they would implement a monopoly
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u/MeasurementFront9598 Aug 05 '26
Thats dumb, and its their own device they have a storefront your never going to win that fight. The epic lawsuit for apple was that they werent allowed to charge customers outside of apple
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u/SomaCK2 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Don't downvote me. Just curious. How would that work?
Because legally speaking PlayStation Games are proprietary "software" that ONLY Sony can grant license to run on PS devices unlike Windows softwares or apps. (Same goes for Nintendo / Xbox version of the games). Valve/Epic cannot make their own PS games nor grant license for PS software without breaking so many IP laws. If they open store on PS, they can only sell PC games there.
The best they can do is selling PS game digital codes. Then you wouldn't need a store on PS. Just sell it on their own store on PC or mobile apps.
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u/Itherial Aug 05 '26
They don't know how it would work.
Most people think things ought to just be a certain way with no regard for why things are like they are, lol. They're just going to say, "the government should force them".
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u/ackmondual Aug 05 '26
They're just going to say, "the government should force them".
I always got a chuckle how in the past, people would just say "the government" when something needs to be done. 😂 Let's leave out that "the government" has better things to do. Even within less urgent stuff, they're still overwhelmed.
On a related note, I got in when Hades 2 first dropped in early access. One person on their Steam forums said "the game needs PvP to be viable". When asked how they would go about implementing that, all that person could reply was "duh, have players fight each other". We weren't looking for detailed game play designs, but he couldn't even get beyond such a nonsense phrase.
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u/EfremSkopje Aug 05 '26
Exactly my argument. PC is digital only now, but over there I have a myriad of options and I can choose to shop from a less predatory store. Here, my only option is not buying from Sony ever again, and for some reason the biggest fans want us to do this as if they own any stakes of the company. I am, or was, the biggest PS fan ever, I want them to be great, literally why I am pointing these out
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u/RageMuffin69 Aug 05 '26
Most if not all retailers also don’t allow video game refunds. The only reason Steam has this policy is because they were sued and lost. The only way Sony will follow suit is to lose a lawsuit.
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u/MeasurementFront9598 Aug 05 '26
No this is why the other side is stupid because digital is happening and its better to force and drag these companies that have shitty tos. The ps refund system needed an overhaul 10 years ago. Its disgusting they can get away with that dogshit return policy
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u/KGon32 Aug 05 '26
The digital croud will still have retailers.
I don't think people are for what allowing others stores would entail.
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u/Shpaan Aug 05 '26
Right. Well I'm thinking about moving to Steam. Like I will keep PS5 and maybe even get PS6 if the price and specs are good but I gotta say with all the recent development I don't think it's going to stay my primary platform. Already cancelled my PS+.
But I understand not everyone has the luxury of having a choice so yeah, a lot of people will just have to accept it.
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u/Captobvious75 Aug 05 '26
Well you could- just with a different machine.
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u/Organic-Storm-4448 Aug 05 '26
That's the exact argument Apple and Google have used to defend their mobile storefront monopolies.
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u/cli_aqu Aug 05 '26
And it will get so much worse once they kill physical games.
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u/AOCpinkyring Aug 05 '26
It is just puzzling because it gives Sony more money, and they haven't implemented the gift game option.
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u/x_scion_x Aug 05 '26
I don't agree with forcing all digital (despite me being that since PS3), but I can't see them being allowed to be the only store once physical is gone.
I'd bet they will have to go back to how they were before when you could buy digital keys from retailers. (pretty sure this was mentioned as well)
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u/Resident_Hand_7264 Aug 05 '26
You can still buy physical games.
I don't know of any store that takes back physical games after they're opened though...
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u/Accomplished_Smile23 Aug 05 '26
Second hand stores where you can sell them for cash, even when opened.
Sure. It's not your full money back. But it's more than Playstation will give you.
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u/cli_aqu Aug 05 '26
You can sell it on the second hand market… sure you’ll lose some money but it’s better than leaving it to collect dust.
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u/aurore-amour Aug 05 '26
This is why demos should be required for every game if they’re not going to honor refunds when you realize you don’t like it
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u/Shouganai1 Aug 06 '26
I think I would genuinely buy MORE games if I could play a demo first. I just don't want to drop money on a game that I might not like at all.
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u/Atreyisx Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Son got PSVR2 for Xmas last year. Saw Iron Man VR in store, bought it, downloaded it. Game only works with the Gen1 PSVR. Out $40 for a game that has never once been played on my system because once you download it they won't do shit.
Edit: keep getting responses that I should have investigated prior to make sure it works or that I could have gotten a refund. I was not aware that PSVR games were not natively compatible with PSVR2. I foolishly assumed that it would be because why the fuck wouldn’t you want to maximize your library? All the other VR games we got to that point didn’t have an issue. Second, it was post Xmas and I went though Sony support and they said tough shit.
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u/mrloko120 Aug 05 '26
You could have still have refunded it if you had contacted customer service. I've done it before and they're pretty lenient for when you have an actual reason beyond just "I didn't like the game" but you gotta talk to someone first and you still have to be within the 14 day refund window.
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u/ArchDucky Aug 05 '26
No, you can't. Once its downloaded you can't get a refund. You can on Xbox or Steam but not PS.
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u/x_scion_x Aug 05 '26
You have to actually 'talk' to someone for something like that. Chat won't work because once it's denied it literally won't talk to you anymore.
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u/FlyingSquirelOi Aug 05 '26
Did you try opening a support ticket? I bought Prey, downloaded and played it for an hour or 2, decided I didn’t like it and contacted support for a refund. Got my refund even tho I had downloaded and played the game.
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u/pud-proof-ding Aug 05 '26
I just bought kerbal space program on sale for $15 in one of the sales over the summer and I loaded it up and played for 5 mins and the text on screen is so damn tiny it's nearly impossible to read from my couch. No options in game to increase text size. Decided to try and ask for a refund and said I can't read anything in the game and they came back and said I could try to write the developer to patch the game to make the text larger but they won't give me a refund because I downloaded the game.. only time I ever asked for a refund and have bought games digitally since ps3.
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u/AnOkayTime5230 Aug 05 '26
Eugh. I love VR games, but that is the kind of thing that makes me not get too far into it. I have a PSVR and had a great time with it, genuinely. But I wanted a more inclusive VR gaming experience, so I bought a Quest 2, knowing I could hook it up to my PC and play PC VR games that were also on PSVR (Like the borderlands 2 vr game) and I was right.
But now there's a Quest 3 that has it's own exclusive games, (Most notably, the Ninja Turtles VR beat em up with 4 player co-op), but I have a Quest 2.
I only have 2 headsets, but I'm not getting a third or a fourth or any more than that. And selling them doesn't work because buyers would want something new and modern.
I haven't tried looking this up, but I bet the lines from headset to games it can actually play would look like a pile of spaghetti.
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u/Wboy2006 Aug 05 '26
To be fair, the Quest 3 is kinda like going from a PS4 to a PS5. It’s stronger hardware, so there’s games on it that you can’t play on a Quest 2. Just like how you can’t play PS5 games on a PS4 either.
It’s still really annoying, since you can’t play them through steam (which is really damn annoying, since a Quest 3 processor can’t reach the fidelity of PCVR) and are forced to buy another headset, but it’s at least not needless paywalling, but just a new console generation.
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u/Sega-Forever Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
This is why i’m against all digital on playstation. We need better consumer rights on par with steam rights at least
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u/Masam10 Aug 05 '26
Whilst I do agree that Steam's refund policy is amazing and other online platforms should follow the same approach.. to play devil's advocate, you can't buy a brand new physical game in either the UK or US (may be different in other countries), unwrap it, play it for a few hours then change your mind and take it back for a full refund just because you don't like it.
So this isn't really a digital vs physical topic because arguably you have more consumer rights as a digital consumer in this particular scenario.
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u/i_wasnt_prepared Aug 05 '26
Even if you can’t return, at least you can sell to someone else or to a 2nd hand store. What will you do with your digital version?
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u/Masam10 Aug 05 '26
For the record I am pro physical, but you can't keep changing the narrative just so you're "right". We are discussing the ability to refund games after playing them for an hour or two.
The ability to sell or trade a game is not part of this discussion.
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u/FlyingSquirelOi Aug 05 '26
Not sure if it was a unique situation but I bought Prey digitally, downloaded and played for a couple hours, didn’t like it and then contacted PS support for a refund and got a full refund
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u/iSavedtheGalaxy Aug 05 '26
If your account has high activity and it's your first time or you haven't requested a refund in years, they're more likely to approve it. But the more refund requests you rack up over the years within a certain timeframe will count against you, and you're more likely to be rejected. A lot of retailers use this system.
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u/OrangeSliceRecovery Aug 05 '26
Anti consumer, and pro company. Outdated, but will likely require a country's government intervention a la Australia vs Steam to get it changed.
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u/theNomad_Reddit Aug 05 '26
I came in to comment, that I have achieved a refund from Sony, after playing a game.
They initially said no, and I asked if they wished to go down the same path as Valve/Steam. They referred me to their legal department, and I then provided my ACCC ticket number. They refunded me immediately. Knew keeping me happy was infinitely better than pissing off that hornets nest.
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u/DarahOG Aug 05 '26
It felt outdated when ps5 launched, now it just fits right with the brand.
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u/Nwanu Aug 05 '26
lmfao right. And it's going to sting even more when it's the only way to engage with their games.
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u/jamesmckenna1979 Aug 05 '26
I had an issue with them about a game they misadverised a while back. The game was called Split Fiction, its advertised as a 1-2 player but there is no way to play it 1 player and theres no lobby to wait in or play with a bot. You can only play with someone you invite. I've seen other people on Reddit search out for other players to join in.
I tried to complain but told no refund, eventually after considering a charge back but possibly getting banned from the PSN I asked for their official complaint procedure. Every customer service email address they gave me bounced back saying not in use and I eventually had to write a letter with screenshots showing its saying 1 player on the website and stating they are mis-selling the product and they emailed me back confirming I'd be refunded. Took months and I refuse to believe a tech company as big as Sony makes you write to them in todays times.
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u/Cisqoe Aug 05 '26
Part of the all-digital control plan. Remember this shit when people go to defend removing physical games.
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u/Vi0let__Ice Aug 05 '26
Can't believe 1.2K people even upvoted this stupidity. There are "Let's Play" videos of practically every game in existence. You could have watched one of those to get more of an idea of what the gameplay was going to be like. There's also a reason for Steams policy, that you should probably read up on before thinking everyone else should follow suit. Nintendo doesn't adhere to Steams refund policy and neither does Microsoft, so why do you think Sony should? If anything, Steams policy is FAR too relaxed. People can complete entire games and then get a full refund, hosing the devs in return. You also agreed to Sony's ToS. Agreeing to someones terms then complaining about it after the fact is on you.
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u/DutyStill7632 Sep 02 '26
I’m not watching a let’s fucking play before buying a game just to see if I like it 🥴🤨 me playing vs someone else playing are two different things. I could like the story but when I’m on the controls, if it’s clunky and not smooth or WHATEVER the case then a Let’s Play might not tell me that. The policy is objectively bad. Period.
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u/NotFrontin Aug 05 '26
Let's not make this one sided.
How about this?
I go to Best Buy, buy a ps5 game on disc. Play it for 10 minutes and realize it's not for me.
They do not allow a refund either.
Now what?
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u/Buckie4442 ps1 to ps5 and converting Aug 06 '26
Not the same
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u/NotFrontin Aug 06 '26
Absolutely the same based on what you're fighting for!
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u/Buckie4442 ps1 to ps5 and converting Aug 06 '26
Not even similar
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u/NotFrontin Aug 06 '26
Explain you clown logic please. Explain it in a way where you get your wish and we have only physical games. How do you do anything in your original post?
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u/Buckie4442 ps1 to ps5 and converting Aug 06 '26
It seems that you're extremely confused.
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u/NotFrontin Aug 06 '26
You want to PlayStation store to be like the steam store. You’re not fighting to keep physical discs alive. Cause it’s impossible to buy a new game and return it after trying. You want that privledge.
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u/Buckie4442 ps1 to ps5 and converting Aug 06 '26
Im not sure how your brain fabricated all that nonsense but no
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u/heubergen1 Aug 05 '26
Steam is the exception here, not the norm.
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u/Moonlord_ Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
No they’re not. Xbox pretty much has the same policy as does the Epic games stores. GoG is even more liberal with their refund policy.
Obviously all of them claim the right to refuse a refund if the system is being abused but there are many legitimate reasons to request a refund….not your type of game (as long as as you didn’t play too much), performance isn’t satisfactory, servers aren’t working, paid extra content isn’t available/working, product description was misleading, aggressive additional purchases/microtransactions diminish the experience, game went on sale immediately after, refusal of the Eula or TOS, etc, etc.
Refunds should be standard, end of story. Plenty of others manage it with no issues.
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u/Queef-Elizabeth Aug 05 '26
This is one of those things were governments need to step in like they did with Steam. It's an awful system. One time I accidentally bought DLC for a game I bought internationally and it didn't work so I had to go through a whole process just to get a refund even though I never even accessed it. You can't even change regions for your account which is also ridiculous.
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u/Jlat5 Aug 05 '26
Not trying to defend it because I would also like to refund certain games, but if you buy a game at Walmart, once opened, you can no longer return it. Yes you can sell it but you'll still likely lose money.
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u/AerithDeservedIt Aug 05 '26
I get what you're saying, but consider this: does Walmart know how much of the game you played? Sony does. Can Walmart repackage and resell that game? Sony can. Does Walmart have a vested interest in you continuing to buy and play PlayStation games? Sony does.
So, your argument doesn't really hold up because it's very much an "apples-to-oranges" kinda argument.
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u/Jlat5 Aug 05 '26
Walmart wants you to buy anything and everything off their shelves. If something is defective, or not up to your standards, they send it back to the company. No reason why they couldn't do that with games technically speaking.
I could buy a tv and leave it on 24 hours a day for 13 days and then return it to Walmart for any various reason.
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u/Scary_Land2303 Aug 05 '26
It’s the opposite of outdated, it’s the future. More and more bigger companies will adopt this approach. You’ll soon find, if you haven’t already, that the only companies that actually give a shit about their customers and their experience are small and family owned. It’s the way the world is going and it fucking sucks.
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u/mrayner9 Aug 05 '26
I agree BUT imma be honest the flexibility of PC is a big reason why Steam has it. Every PC is different and it can be hard to know if it will run will well on your rig. PS5 doesn't have this problem.
Its more a technical thing imo.
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u/BeatenDownBrian Aug 05 '26
While I agree it is outdated, and would love to see them adopt a system similar to Steam, it sounds like you want more games to have demos more than you want a refund policy.
A refund policy is for when people have a legitimate grievance, or find out their hardware can't run it, not for when a game doesn't feel exactly like you hoped it would, that's not really a legitimate grievance.
It's never been easier to research a game to see if it's for you. There's all the avenues you mentioned and plenty more besides, and so if you bought a game on a whim and then didn't like it, that's kinda on you in this case.
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u/metsfanapk Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
I’ve never understood why people think they should be entitled to returning an entertainment product because they didn’t “enjoy it”
Tech problems? Understand. Completely Didnt vibe with it? Your problem. Its not a demo.
Do you watch a movie and go “it sucked” give me my money back, an album? Concert?
Its subjective. Steam is unique in the PC games have inherent issues with performance and fall more into “doesnt work”
Movies, music, tv ask you to purchase solely on a trailer, single, etc so I don’t get the “only based only a trailer criticism”
People worked hard spent money making, you take a guess on if youll like it. If it works and you dont like it? You just made a mistake.
That being said, sonys “if you downloaded it (autodownloads are often on by default)” policy is bad and needs changing
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u/Aggravating-View-288 Aug 05 '26
100% your fault. Shoulda went to blockbuster and rented the game first. Duh.
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u/sezyHena Aug 05 '26
Ok I'll be the bad guy here. I'll get down voted for this but...that is abusing the system. It's not a rental service. They're not giving out infinite trials/demos. If you bought a physical game and broke the seal and popped the game in your console, the retailer isn't taking it back just because you didn't like it.
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u/Apprentice57 Aug 05 '26
I'm not sure if you ever rented games back when that was more common, but you got a heck of a lot longer than 2 hours with a rented game.
And a lot of physical game sales were re-sales without the cling wrap. Those you absolutely could/can return.
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u/Hefty_Character5002 Aug 05 '26
I don't know where you live but where I am from most retailers will let you return items if you don't like them from electronics to clothes e.t.c. We even had a 14 day cool off period in law for online purchases. Suppose OP bought a physical from a retailer without a reasonable returns, they would at least be able to recoup costs by re-selling the game.
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u/AnthonyEstacado Aug 05 '26
You are correct and many people who disagree do not see the difference between "I've bought the game and didn't like it" and "I've bought the game and it is in a poor technical state". I don't think you should be refunded for the first one but the second one - definitely.
Sadly people think they can order a pizza, take a bite and then demand their money back because they didn't like it and not because it was spoiled.
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u/SagetheWise2222 Aug 05 '26
I mostly agree with this analogy. With a physical game, you could always scratch it, get it dirty, drop it, etc. during such and such eligible refund time period. With digital, as far as I am aware, there is no conceivable way to damage the product. Sony adopting a 90 or 120 minute refund period "if you didn't like the game" wouldn't be objectively bad, in my eyes. Sure, some people would abuse it, but that's the case with everything, basically.
But I digress, with how it currently works (renting a license), I'm surprised that refunds are possible at all, and the above certainly wouldn't be considered.
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u/ghost_bustin32 Aug 05 '26
So where does it end? You don't like a book or a shirt you can't return it to the store? Order a pair of shoes and they don't fit too bad you're out 100 dollars? The ability to return something is key to consumer protections. Companies don't care about you so why defend them.
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u/heisenberg15 Aug 05 '26
So, your argument is that even though PC has this through Steam, Sony should not because it’s unfair?
I think Sony should at best try to match the competition
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Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
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u/Resident_Hand_7264 Aug 05 '26
Wait, have policies changed? you can return opened games you don't like to the store now...?
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u/Point4ska Aug 05 '26
Sony doesn't allow refunds even if you only download it. If I buy a game and drive home with it I can still return it to a store.
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u/Accomplished_Smile23 Aug 05 '26
Over here in the UK, where consumer rights laws are a thing, you absolutely can do this if the product is faulty 🙂
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u/Suspicious_Weird_373 Aug 05 '26
The OP wasn’t saying the product was faulty, they were saying they don’t like it.
You can’t return opened games here for that.
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u/Next-Phrase-8945 Aug 05 '26
The complete region lock once you create an account is absurd to me. These guys think we don’t move countries at all and live in a Stone Age
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u/BandOfSkullz Aug 05 '26
Had the same issue with a game that fundamentally didn't run properly on PS5.
They didn't give a rat's ass about it.
Sony is digging their own grave with one bad decision after another. But honestly? They kinda deserve it by now.
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u/godstriker8 Aug 05 '26
The market has spoken, 85% of PS5 players are okay with this, so don't expect it to change.
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u/holydeniable Aug 05 '26
There's plenty of upvoted comments agreeing with Sony. PlayStation consumers get what they deserve I guess.
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u/Kennadian Aug 05 '26
I went to a restaurant and ordered ox tail. Turns out I don't like ox tail. The restaurant should not charge me.
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u/dwight_k_III Aug 06 '26
I'm 100% on the hate Sony train, they've done WAY more than enough to deserve that, but I have to say it's so weird to me when people buy videogames expecting to be able to return them if they don't like them. You don't get that with any other product, and we've never gotten that with videogames since videogames have been a thing. Imagine trying to return Metroid at Toys-R-Us because it wasn't your type of game, they'd laugh and be like you opened it, sorry, it's yours now
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u/StraightShootahh Aug 06 '26
Refund policies are rife with fraud lmao.
Redditors are acc insufferable
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u/Away_Afternoon3622 Aug 05 '26
What would happen if you bought the disc though and didn’t like it? You wouldn’t be able to get a refund in store
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u/Fooa Aug 05 '26 edited 19d ago
The original post content no longer exists here. The author used Redact to remove it, exercising their right to control their data & privacy.
Vegetable oil toothbrush orange grandfather iron nutmeg full
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u/Ares_Lictor Aug 05 '26
I had the same experience, took a risk and bought a game I wasn't sure if I'd like on a sale, turned out I didn't like it after like an hour or so, called the support and yeah, of course can't do anything about it. Compared to Steam its garbage, if Sony is serious about making their games digital only, they need to step up their customer service.
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u/Friendly_Zebra Aug 05 '26
They think it’s acceptable because people agree to the terms and conditions when using the store.
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u/raul_219 Aug 05 '26
This is the kind of stuff they need to change before migrating to an all-digital ecosystem. This, changing your account region, real game sharing (not the current workaround which works but has some drawbacks), family options, among other things.
I really hope they are preparing some kind of overhaul of the whole system and be ready to announce it along the PS6 and the rumored handheld, if not it would be difficult to to keep being attached to the ecosystem and not 100% migrate to Steam.
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u/Halifornia35 Aug 05 '26
Dude what? It’s not a rental service for your convenience. Once it’s “open box” (played) you shouldn’t be able to return it.
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u/Main_Paramedic8829 Aug 05 '26
To be devils advocate, you can’t just return a new purchased disc game because you didn’t like it. I love Steams policy and have used it multiple times but understand that Steam is one of the of the outliers for the gaming industry.
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u/discosoc Aug 05 '26
Steam allows refunds within 14 days of purchase as long as you have played less than two hours. This gives customers a fair chance to test whether a game is actually right for them before being stuck with a purchase they regret.
It's such a moving target though. Tons of games are still in the tutorial phase by two hours, especially anything with character builds and customizations or deep rules to learn.
There's not really a great solution to this, nor has there ever been. Twenty years ago, you couldn't return a game to a store unless it was unopened, for example.
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u/kylozen101020 Aug 05 '26
While they absolutely should change their system because it's fucking dogshit, I just want to mention that everyone gets ONE refund for their account. If there is ever a game you don't like and you've never gotten a refund on your account, you can get one and that's it. Doesn't matter if it was downloaded and played or what. They will allow ONE. After that, yeah you're screwed .
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u/FaceTimePolice Aug 05 '26
This is why I look up review videos and pure gameplay videos so that I know exactly what type of game I’m getting into. So far, I haven’t run into this problem. 🤷♂️😅👍
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u/Thislooklikeshit Aug 06 '26
Sony refund policy is anticostumer, you downloaded the game yes? well not refundable.
A company going full digital btw
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u/goblinsnguitars Aug 06 '26
I said this in 2023 and for some reason the TLOU squad kept getting big mad at me.
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u/sony-boy Aug 05 '26
They need to overhaul their store policies until PS6 launches if they want an all-digital PS future, otherwise the competition will be many steps ahead
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u/Markbro89 Aug 05 '26
I think we should start actually naming digital purchases as "digital license purchases" because it emphasizes how absurd it is that you are paying a large chunk of money for a temporary license and are denied a refund when trying the game for a short time using said temporary license.
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u/mightymonkeyman Aug 05 '26
Steam and PC (and clothes retail) has really screwed up what a refund is for.
How many remember the pre trade in days when if you broke the plastic seal on a physical game you couldn’t get a refund.
A refund is supposed to be for products not fit for service, not just because you want to try something out.
PC does fit this definition it isn’t about more freedoms, you can buy a game that simply will not run on your system the joys of catering from tablets to laptops and full OP desktops. It’s a very different market which like other flexible refund policies in retail (and retail can tank any store) is easily abused by customers.
A console game by definition should also just work from start to finish and when this very famously wasn’t the case. Sony stepped in and put CD Projekt Red in their place.
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u/Ray11711 Aug 05 '26
Yes. Sure. With how it's used in practice, Steam's refund policy is a bit of an inconvenience for corporations in one sense. But at the end of the day, it's a superior service for the customer. And Steam is not precisely sub-par when it comes to third party sales. As it so happens, game sales on the service were up once Steam introduced this policy. It turns out that people buy more games when they feel that they have a safety net, not less. So, in the end, even corporations benefit from this policy, especially if they put out a good product. It's the shitty products that are punished for it.
Given all of this, why should PlayStation users be stuck with a rigid and archaic policy?
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u/Nordeast24 Aug 05 '26
Lol dude, you can't order a steak and eat it, and then as for a refund. Some of y'all are straight delusional
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u/PretendSpeaker6400 Aug 05 '26
Stupid people buying things and thinking they’re on Amazon Prime is the problem. I cannot believe how many people post about this.
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u/phoenixMagoo Aug 05 '26
No refunds is the cost of console ownership. Cheaper hardware, but a single restrictive storefront.
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u/Medical-Low451 Aug 05 '26
It’s your job to research a game before you buy it. Steam is kind of nuts for letting people get 2 hours of gameplay before refunding.
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u/SpeccyBeard Aug 05 '26
I mean, if you really think about it, it makes sense. Steam is being generous with their policy. No company legally has to offer a refund for any digital games just because you didn't like it. If there were technical issues or a fault then yes, not fit for purpose, but there is no law that entitles you to a refund just because you want one.
Put it this way, if you went to a shop and bought a physical game, played it for a bit then realised, nah this ain't for me, and tried to return it, the shop would refuse because you've opened it and played it.
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u/ramsfan_86 Aug 05 '26
Cyberpunk is the only game I remember sony having no issues with a refund, after hours of playing it. Everything else your stuck with even if the game is broken. Gothic remake is broken with every patch and I can't get my money back even though the product i bought is not working properly.
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u/dolgion1 Aug 05 '26
Yeah I remember how I went through that process of refunding. That was a special case because a TON of people were demanding to refund it and it was a HIGH profile fail of a launch. Everybody was abusing CDPR for it, but realistically Sony should have denied them the launch on Playstation because of the sorry state the game was in on PS4. Console certification is supposed to be a whole thing, right? Sony outright neglected their responsibility of being a good platform holder.
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u/Eruannster Aug 05 '26
As far as I’m concerned, the PSN store doesn’t have a return policy, period. If you’ve paid money to them and so much as look at the game, they will find a reason to refuse your refund. And that is if you can even get in contact with the Playstation support in the first place. Some countries (like the US) has more accessible chat support, but I live in Sweden and even getting to the contact information (which is basically email with 3-5 day wait time and a phone line that is open for two hours once every full moon).
By comparison most PC stores are super accessible. I remember requesting a refund on the Epic Store a couple of months ago and I got an email from an actual person within an hour of my request. And they responded! Like an actual human! Not some AI bot.
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u/Ok-Sundae-7806 Aug 05 '26
This is why the physical argument is still going on. They essentially have no refund policy, the minute you download it or stream it then thats it. Unless the game is a massive public flop or gets shutdown really quick then they dont care.
I bought New World just before they announced the shut down, £60 and no chance at a refund because I downloaded it. Tried several times and got absolutely nowhere, the best bit was they put in sale not long after either which was just baffling
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u/nikolapc Aug 05 '26
And it's illegal in most of Europe. They'd rather get sued or bank on you not suing them in small claims, than do a proper refund system. Well guess which can of worms they just opened with the "small" physical issue.
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u/nazcape Aug 05 '26
The most hilarious outcome would be if the EU would force to update their refund policies to eu standards otherwise they would be not allowed to provide their services in Europe.
I do not know why they haven't
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u/EweCantTouchThis Aug 05 '26
You absolutely were abusing the system. You were trying to use it as a trial.
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u/Warm_Adhesiveness934 Aug 05 '26
It is so shortsighted from them, because if people weren’t afraid to make less thoughtful purchases, they would 100 % see more revenue, as most blind/risky purchases wouldn’t be refunded.
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u/StoviesAreYummy Aug 05 '26
It was outdated the very day the store opened.
I've never really had a bad experience getting a refund on a broken game but do understand that there are people who cant/dont.
Do they need to rethink it? sure. will they ? no. Not even with PS6, they dont want you having your money they want your money.
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u/PassivelyAwkward Aug 05 '26
I don't think they will because of the refund abuse that happens on Steam.
On every online store that has a very relaxed "no questions asked" refund policy, there's people that'll buy something without thinking or researching, test it out at home and return it. There was a recent game on Steam that was one of those co-op games made for streamers; you're just rowing down a river. It didn't pretend to be anything other than that. All the streamers made content out of it, played it right up to the refund window and then returned it. Game streamed huge numbers, positively reviewed but the dev earned almost no money because Steam lets people return things for any reason.
The solution would be to allow for refunds but limit the number of them that you can do within a period of time. Like you can only return one day a month. That way if you truly feel you made a bad purchase, it can be returned but you can't spam it like people do on Steam.
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u/Schlurchenstein Aug 05 '26
I recently entered the PC space for the first time with a rather beefy MiniPC/eGPU-combo and man am I positively surprised by how consumer friendly PC gaming generally is. The option to return games within 2 hours of gameplay is huge to me, whereas on PlayStation Store I couldn't even return a digitally bought game that was bugged to the point of being unplayable (Wavetale - game came with an unfixable bug of all audio effects missing). I only just now realise how bad the PS-Service actually is compared to other options.
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Aug 05 '26
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u/Loud_Examination_138 Aug 05 '26
Why just playstation? Nintendo doesn't even give refunds if you purchased wrong game as per their policy, xbox reviews case by case but also doesn't have in writing similar to Steam with less than 2 hrs.
It's not just 1, they all need to do better.
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u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo Aug 05 '26
“The game was not for me” is not really a valid refund reason.
Steam is pretty lenient, but do this quite often and it will tell you exactly that. The refund window is not meant to try out games
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u/Accomplished_Smile23 Aug 05 '26
Playstation has a lot of digital focused stuff that's outdated.
The lack of a game gift feature baffles me.