7 Simple Solutions To The Gaming Industry's Biggest Problems

2. Being Stuck With A Broken Game

Solution: Digital refunds available at a publisher's discretion.

With digital game sales comprising around 80% of everything sold, it's clear that eventually, digital refunds will have to become the norm.

That reality though, is far, FAR from where we're at now.

Nintendo, for example, essentially have a neon-flashing "NOPE" sign if you want to refund anything, no matter how broken it is, or if you were hoodwinked by one of the many cheap ripoff titles on their eShop. Pre-orders can be cancelled, thankfully, as of the end of 2020, but that's about it.

As for PlayStation and Xbox, most of the time it's an uphill battle to convince the company that a title isn't "satisfactory", as it's such a grey subject matter to pin down. Cyberpunk 2077 was a landmark event where refunds were offered no matter how much time had been played, but this is far from the norm.

Both companies stick to the standard "14 day window" rule, but that's only if you haven't started playing or in some cases, begun downloading it at all.

None of these policies address the problem with broken or otherwise unsatisfactory games at launch, and put simply: We need a promise from console manufacturers and content hosts on this level, that we're not stuck with a buggy, broken or otherwise unfulfilling game.

If "Refund policy?" was a timed gameplay window on a per publisher basis - like say the two hours you can bank before requesting a refund on Steam - we'd soon weed out those only in it for the money, and which companies prioritise the consumer.