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Refunds and rights
What the stores promise, what the law adds, and the order to use them in.
The stores' own promises
Steam
- Ask within 14 days of buying and with under two hours of play and the refund is granted as a matter of course, to the original payment method or your Steam Wallet.
- Add-on content follows the same rule, with the two hours counted on the base game.
- Outside those limits you can still ask; Steam looks at it case by case.
GOG
- 30 days from purchase, and the policy still applies after you have downloaded and played, so long as you are not making a habit of it.
- Pre-orders can be refunded until release, then the 30 days start.
The law underneath
Consumer Rights Act 2015: digital content
A game you pay for must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described (CRA 2015, Part 1, Chapter 3). If it is not, you are entitled first to a repair or replacement, and if that fails or cannot be done in a reasonable time, to a price reduction, which can be the full amount. A game that will not run on the hardware the store page says it supports is the classic case. The Act also says that if faulty digital content damages your device or other software, the trader must repair it or compensate you.
The 14-day cooling-off period, and why it usually does not apply
Buying online normally gives you 14 days to change your mind, but for a download that right ends the moment the download starts, provided you agreed to that and acknowledged losing the right, which both stores ask you to do at the checkout (CCR 2013, regulation 37). That is why the stores' own refund windows matter more than the statutory one.
Section 75: credit cards and the £100 line
Pay by credit card for a single item costing more than £100 and up to £30,000 and the card issuer is jointly liable with the seller (Consumer Credit Act 1974, s.75). Nothing on our list reaches £100, so Section 75 is a background protection rather than one you will use for a tower-defence game. Paying through PayPal usually breaks the chain the section relies on.
Chargeback
Not a law but a rule of the card schemes. If a store will not refund something it should, your bank can reverse a debit or credit card payment. Use it after the store has said no, not instead of asking, and keep the emails.
In practice
Try the store first
Steam's form and GOG's support desk settle almost everything within the windows above, usually within a day or two.
Quote the Act if the game is faulty
Outside the window, a game that genuinely does not work is a Consumer Rights Act matter. Say so, calmly, with evidence.
Bank last
Chargeback or, over £100 on a credit card, Section 75. Citizens Advice has a plain-English guide to both if you need it.
General information for players in the UK, checked on 31 October 2026. It is not legal or financial advice, and nothing here suggests borrowing to buy a game. Where we quote a law we link to the official text so you can read it yourself.