Hey Sony and Nintendo, We Need to Talk About Your Refund Policy

howtogeek.com:

With the world shifting from physical to digital game media, it would be nice if everyone could agree on how refunds work. Unfortunately while some companies are leading the charge in consumer friendliness, others seem to be more than a little behind the times.

Sony and Nintendo’s Current Refund Policies

Yes, it's the two Japanese gaming giants that seem to have a rather old-fashioned approach to digital games when it comes to refunds. Starting with Sony, the only way to get a refund for digital content is to never download it, and request a refund within 14 days of purchase. This means that if you download a game to your PlayStation and don't even open it, you have no recourse.

Of course, you can get in touch with a support representative from Sony, and sometimes you can convince them to refund you, especially if a purchase was made in error or without your permission, but in my experience this is a pain, judging by how much hassle I went through to refund an accidental double purchase of PlayStation Plus annual subscriptions.

Sony's lack of a friendly refund policy was really put under the spotlight with the PlayStation 4 release of Cyberpunk 2077. A game so broken, it required that Sony create a special refund claim channel just for that title. Something they wouldn't have to do if they already had a general purpose, automated refund system. It took months for me to get my Cyberpunk 2077 refund, by which time I had already purchased the PC version and finished it three times.

Nintendo's attitude towards digital refunds makes Sony look downright generous in comparison. According to Nintendo Customer Support:

We are unable to provide refunds or exchanges for mistaken purchases.

Please be sure to read the game descriptions and check out the screen shots available through the Nintendo eShop before making purchases. We also encourage you to visit nintendo.com for information about the games available for our systems. In addition, many websites make