Amidst delays for digital events and ongoing corporate efforts to deal with the wolves somehow infesting its headquarters, Sony didn’t really need more bad news. But it got that, as the console manufacturer has been ordered to pay $2.4 million in fines ($3.5 million in Australian currency) due to misleading and unclear refund policies on the game’s digital storefront. It would probably have just been easier to refund the games when customers asked for refunds.
Of course, this particular process started in 2019, but it’s hardly the first time that unclear digital refunds have hit online storefronts, with similar lawsuits filed at Steam prior to Valve clearly spelling out a single and consistent refund policy. It also extends to debates about the differences between digital distribution and physical retail purchases, so expect these sorts of debates to continue for a while. Although you should probably also expect more clarity from Sony regarding refund policies, as the company probably does not want to be fined for millions of dollars again.
