DRM-free digital gaming retailer GOG has updated its refund policy to give customers even more leeway with their purchases. This new GOG refund policy gives gamers more options to try out games without worrying about wasting their money.
Stating that they believe in a "gamers-first" approach, the company has detailed the new GOG refund policy in a news post on the digital distributor's website.
"[S]tarting 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."
How Does the New GOG Refund Policy Work?
As the support article on the new policy notes, you really can get either your money or GOG Wallet credit refunded to you within 30 days of purchasing a game no matter how much you've played it. On its face, the new refund policy sounds pretty good. However, there are several caveats that you need to be aware of.
Firstly, there isn't really any automated system for getting a refund just yet. You'll have to manually request a refund through this form. A refund can be provided in either GOG Wallet funds or cash. GOG Wallet funds will process pretty much right away, but it will take a few days for you to get your money back if you prefer cash. Payment processors like paysafecard, SOFORT, and GiroPay could take up to a few weeks due to technical reasons with these platforms.
Game Packs and DLCs cannot be refunded in part due to technical reasons, too. Here's the explanation:
For technical reasons, we cannot divide a game pack (for instance, a season pass, a pack containing the base game and its DLCs, or a pack containing a whole series of games). As a result, you would get a refund for the full pack and, as a consequence, the full pack will be removed from your account.
If you apply for a refund for a DLC, and it was not purchased as a pack (bundled with the base game), we can issue a refund for the DLC itself.
If you refund the base game, but also purchased DLCs separately, we would also refund the DLCs linked to that base game.
There doesn't seem to be any specific restriction on the number of refunds, but GOG asks that people don't take advantage of the system by asking for "an unreasonable amount of games to be refunded." They reserve the right to refuse refunds in individual cases. That's also why they ask that you request help from their technical support team if a game doesn't work first as they may be able to help you out.
It's not all downsides, though. Pre-orders can be refunded through the entire pre-order period and 30 days after release. Games in Development (GOG's version of Early Access) are also eligible for this 30-day window.
You can read all of the fine details about the new GOG refund policy in this support article.
Disclosure: GOG works with TechRaptor for affiliate partnership.
What do you think of the new GOG refund policy? Do you have any games in your library that you wish you could have refunded? Let us know in the comments below!