Consumers that were denied a refund for Fallout 76 by EB Games will now have the opportunity to get their money back. Bethesda‘s online RPG suffered from a lot of problems at launch, leading many gamers to request a refund from the company, but those requests fell on deaf ears. That will soon change, however, as EB Games has notified the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that the company will honor refunds to anyone that contacted them between November 14th, 2018 (the game’s launch) and October 31st, 2019. Consumers have until August 1st, 2020 to request a refund.
In a statement, ACCC commissioner Sarah Court detailed the reasoning behind the potential refunds:
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“The Australian Consumer Law provides consumers with the right to ask for their choice of a repair, replacement or refund when they have purchased a product that has a fault which amounts to a major failure,” said Court. “Retailers must ensure that they train their staff so they do not misrepresent to consumers their consumer guarantee rights under the Australian Consumer Law, including the right to obtain a refund in certain circumstances.”
The use of “major failure” is quite interesting in Court’s statement. Several online games have been released by video game companies over the years with significant issues at launch, only to have the publisher fix these after the game has been available. Fallout 76 is no exception, and a lot of gamers have voiced their frustrations with the title since it launched. While Bethesda has made several improvements on the game since then, it’s certainly not surprising to hear that a lot of players requested refunds.
Unfortunately, video game refunds can be quite difficult to come by, and retailers tend to be pretty strict about them. Consumers are usually stuck with store credit in most circumstances, which often is a mere fraction of the game’s original cost. The news is certainly a big win for gamers that felt they were misled by the company’s staff when seeking a refund. It will be interesting to see if other retailers follow suit!
Fallout 76 is available on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.
Are you a fan of Fallout 76? Did you find the game problematic at launch? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!
