Sony has made some tweaks to their PlayStation Store refund policies. They still aren’t as generous as what you see on Steam, where you can get a refund on pretty much anything for up to two weeks after purchase, but Sony’s stance has steadily softened over time. You can now get a refund on any game for up to 14 days, as long as you haven’t started downloading it. If you have started downloading, you can only get a refund if you can prove the game is “faulty” in some way (Sony doesn’t state what exactly qualifies a game as faulty). You can also now cancel pre-orders any time before the release of the game.

　　Here’s the full refund rundown from the Sony’s PlayStation support page:

　　Games, game add-ons, season passes, in-game consumables and PlayStation Video

　　You can cancel a digital content purchase within 14 days from the date of purchase and receive a refund to your PSN wallet, provided that you have not started downloading or streaming it. Digital content that you have started downloading or streaming, and in-game consumables that have been delivered, are not eligible for a refund unless the content is faulty.

　　You can cancel your purchase of a season pass within 14 days from the date of purchase and receive a refund to your PSN wallet, provided that you have not started downloading or streaming any digital content (e.g. game add-ons) included in the season pass.

　　If you purchase in-game consumables on the PlayStation Store, they will be delivered when you next launch the game, until then you will have up to 14 days from the date of transaction to cancel. If you purchase in-game consumables during gameplay, they will be delivered immediately so you will not be able to cancel the purchase. In-game consumables are items such as virtual currencies (e.g. FIFA packs or GTA Cash Packs), boosts and other items that are depleted during gameplay.

　　Pre-Orders

　　You may cancel a pre-order of digital content at any time before the release date and receive a refund to your PSN wallet. If the release date has passed, you can still change your mind and request a refund to your wallet up to 14 days after payment was taken for the pre-order, provided that you have not started downloading or streaming the content to your device.

　　If you have started to download the main part of the order, you will not be able to request a refund. Please be aware that downloads will happen automatically if Automatic Downloads are enabled in your system settings. To turn off Automatic Downloads, head to [Settings] > [System] > [Automatic Downloads] and untick the checkbox next to “Application Update Files”.

　　PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, and Spotify Premium

　　You can cancel your purchase of a subscription to PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now or Spotify Premium service and request a refund to your PSN wallet within 14 days from the initial transaction date, even after you start using the subscription. The refund may be reduced pro-rata to reflect the use you have had of the service. This may show as two transactions in your account transaction history: a refund to your wallet of the full amount originally paid and then a debit of a charge for the period of the service you received.

　　Change of Online ID

　　You cannot cancel or obtain a refund for your purchase of a change of online ID.

　　So yeah, not as bad as Sony’s digital return policy used to be, but there’s room for improvement. There ought to be at least a short window where players can return stuff they’ve downloaded, even if it’s not “faulty.” Then again, GameStop won’t take back anything you’ve taken the plastic wrap off, so you could argue Sony’s digital return policy is already in line with brick-and-mortar stores. Still, not being worse than GameStop when it comes to returns isn’t exactly a high hurdle.

　　Have you ever tried to get a PlayStation Store refund? What was your experience like?