The Consumer Rights Act 2015 came into force on 1st October 2015.
This new legislation is set to have a big impact on the gaming industry, video game development and quality assurance, as UK consumers are now legally entitled to receive a full refund in the event that the digital goods or services purchased are found to be faulty or not as described, with 30 days from the time of purchase to make the request.
This isn’t the first time such legislation has been put into place, though the new law clears up some grey areas and generally makes things a whole lot clearer, giving consumers more power to do something when they’ve spent their hard-earned money on a product that just doesn’t perform as it should.
With buggy or downright broken video games seemingly being released more and more nowadays, such as Batman: Arkham Knight practically unplayable PC port or the glitchy mess that is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, publishers selling goods in the UK will be held accountable for delivering something that just isn’t fit for purpose or as described, with the law backing gamers with serious buyer’s remorse.
Since the legislation covers services as well as goods, poor or non-functioning online components would also be grounds for a refund, no matter the condition of the single player element. This aspect would extend to services such as Microsoft’s Xbox Live or Sony’s PlayStation Network, too, not only those of the games themselves.
The “patch it later” approach that some publishers seem to opt for could be a thing of the past, meaning fully functional, polished and relatively bug-free games at launch for future releases as developers and publishers strive to ensure disgruntled gamers won’t be knocking on their proverbial front doors asking for their money back.
Either that or the UK will see far later release dates than elsewhere in the world because of it. We sincerely hope it’s the former.
Feel free to read the full legislation documentation or check out either Citizens Advice or Which?’s breakdown on the whole thing.
Source: Legislation.gov.uk, Citizens Advice, Which?