Sony’s Digital Refund Policy is an Accessibility Issue
There’s a “disability tax” associated with the PS5 Disc Edition
When people talk about accessibility they usually refer to things like custom button remapping, subtitles, or screen reader support. Features inside of the game that enable players with disabilities to experience the game in a way that’s more comfortable.
But many games still lack common accessibility options. For instance, last year we saw the Spyro the Dragon Reignited Trilogy ship without subtitles in its cutscenes, and you’re unable to re-map your controls in popular titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Other titles like The Last of Us 2 have a whole host of accessibility features, but you often don’t know what you’re going to get until you have the game in front of you. While some developers put out accessibility blog posts, detailing all of the different accessibility features featured in the game, this information is usually much harder to find.
Making this issue even more difficult for players is that their experiences of the games they play might be different for such a diverse number of reasons. Some players may have motor difficulties limiting how they can operate the controllers, others may have cognitive disabilities that affect how they process information, such as the text presented in the game.
We also have players that experience motion sickness — both inside and outside of virtual reality. Many of these players don’t find that these symptoms are triggered universally, with settings like framerates, a field of view, motion blur, and other post-processing elements all interacting.
For me, too much motion blur and a low framerate tend to trigger a retinal migraine very quickly. It’s not something that happens often, but when I have experienced this issue, the game becomes virtually unplayable.
The problem then is for players with any of these difficulties, or similar issues that I haven’t mentioned, it’s difficult to know whether they can play the game or at least play comfortably, before making a purchase.
Developers very rarely offer demos, and although valuable, online descriptions of accessibility features don’t always detail the specific needs of each individual player. So it’s not an uncommon experience for these players to buy a game, and only then find out that they’re unable to play.
At this point, players are understandably disappointed to be in possession of a game that they can’t play. The next logical step is to look for a refund.
Unfortunately, this is where players run into problems.
On the PlayStation store, the refund policy is pretty clear-cut…
“You can cancel a digital content purchase within 14 days from the date of purchase and receive a refund, 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.”
That is to say, it’s almost non-existent. Unless you can demonstrate that the game is faulty, it’s impossible to get a refund on a game that you’ve already downloaded. The option to refund before download is fairly useless outside of allowing players to cancel a purchase they might have made by accident.
As a result, any purchase is a risk. A risk that you end up with a game that you can’t play, or can’t play comfortably.
This issue is particularly pertinent with the launch of the PS5 around the corner. The cheaper version of the PS5 hardware is a ‘digital-only’ edition, meaning players much download games from the PSN store exclusively.
This leaves players with disabilities who want to play on PlayStation feeling pushed towards the more expensive regular version of the system. Because by leaving the option to play physical media open, you can return or re-sell the game if they turn out to be inaccessible.
In contrast, Microsoft and Steam offer refunds on titles with up to 2 hours of game time. This enables players to give the game a try, find if the accessibility options and overall experience of playing the game fit with their needs, and if not, they can request a refund.
This issue is altogether unfortunate because I know there are many great people working at Sony trying to make their games more and more accessible with each day. People that have allowed games like The Last of Us become perhaps the most accessible third-person action game I know of.
Hopefully, this refund policy is something that Sony looks to address in the near future. But for now, if you have any difficulties that require special settings or features, you’re better off playing on other platforms.
