EA Origin service introduces refunds for games you don't like

EA has introduced a new refund policy for its Origin game service. The new policy enables you to get a refund if you aren't satisfied with the game you purchased. There are some rules though, but they are pretty straightforward. The refund is only valid within 24 hours after you first launch the game, within seven days from when you purchased it, or within the first seven days after the game's release date if you pre-ordered it (whichever of these conditions happens first).

The new return policy comes over five months after the company staunchly refused to issue refunds to players unhappy with issues surrounding the launch of the new SimCity earlier this year. At the time, an EA forums community manager told players that "you can of course request a refund for your order" before amending the statement to reflect EA's long-standing policy against digital returns.

Valve's Steam, which still controls the vast vast majority of downloadable PC game sales, does not offer refunds for its games as a matter of policy. Valve does make rare exceptions to this blanket policy, though, as it did for Grand Theft Auto IV's buggy PC launch, for players offended by Bioshock Infinite's religious content, and for the misleadingly unfinished release of The War Z. Still, if EA is able to extend its new return policy to other third-party titles on Origin, it has the potential to be a major factor in differentiating the service from the Steam juggernaut.

Source: ARS Technica