What you need to know
- GOG is a gaming platform and storefront similar to Steam.
- The company claims to put players first, and makes a lot of gamer-friendly choices.
- GOG is making changes to their refund policy that are incredibly lenient.
- They give players 30 days to return a game for a refund, even if it has been played.
When it comes to digital games, return policies have always been a major grey area. It's difficult for companies to decide when to draw the line, since digital games aren't physical products that can be deffective. GOG thinks they've figured this out, as they're rolling out a new return policy that is honestly incredibly lenient and gives players a lot of freedom to make the choice for themselves. Time will tell if GOG's new policy will work out, but if it does this is a great move for gamers who use the service.
Everyone at GOG believes in a 'gamers-first' approach. It means that every part of our store is designed with gamers in mind and your purchase safety and satisfaction come first for us. The latest update to our voluntary Refund Policy adds another piece to this customer-friendly experience. And it all sums up in one sentence: starting now, you can get a full refund up to 30 days after purchasing a product, even if you downloaded, launched, and played it. That's it.
The gist of the new return policy is that all players have a full 30 days starting with the date of purchase to decide whether or not they want the game. Even if you launch and play the game, you can still use the 30 day return window for a refund. This is several times longer than pretty much anyone else, and leaves a lot more wiggle room. It even includes preview games, pre-ordered games, and DLC (if purchased separately.) However, before you get any ideas about abusing the return policy, GOG isn't rolling this out with no restrictions. As stated in their FAQ, GOG will be retaining full rights to individually refuse refunds or returns for any reason if the deem it necessary.
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.
That means if you're returning a game for purely personal reasons, like if you didn't enjoy the game, or if GOG believes you're taking advantage of the policy and returning a ton of games, they can refuse to refund you. Like they said, "Don't be that person. No one likes that person." Despite these vague restrictions, the GOG return policy remains very generous, and puts a lot of faith into the gaming community to use it responsibly. Assuming everything goes swimmingly, this is fantastic for people who might take advantage of sales but not get to playing the game right away, or if game breaking bugs later on in a game's playthrough develop.
GOG's blog post can be found here with the announcement, as well as a full FAQ here if you need all the details. Otherwise, how do you feel about the updated return policy? Has GOG hit the sweet spot, or is this a little too trusting? Let us know in the comments below!
