PlayStation handing out rare refunds to gamers over popular new game

PlayStation isn't exactly known for its generous return policy, yet one popular new game has left its player base so enraged that its forced to give people their money back in an extremely rare move.

The gaming world is still somewhat of a wild west when it comes to refund policies, as it's not consistent between platforms and every single storefront has its own specific rules that you have to abide by.

Steam, for example, allows gamers on PC to claim a no-questions-asked refund on any purchase whatsoever so long as it has been played for less than two hours and submitted within two weeks of the purchase date.

This has led some people to attempt challenges where they complete games within the refund period, effectively playing a game for 'nothing' as they can get their money back.

Refunds on console are a completely different story though, as Sony has famously remained staunchly against giving people their money back outside of a handful of extremely rare circumstances.

Anyone who purchased PlayStation's own failed hero shooter Concord got a full refund after the game was cancelled less than two weeks after release, and Cyberpunk 2077 famously incurred a forced refund for anyone who had bought the hilariously broken game on PlayStation 4.

Unfortunately this refund policy has had to be whipped out once again, as per GAMINGbible, as another game is the subject of so much anger that PlayStation has no choice but to give people their money back.

The game in question is Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, which is the long awaited follow up to the hit 2004 vampire role playing experience, and publisher Paradox has had to step in to remedy the ire of its fanbase.

It's an even rarer case than most refunds on PlayStation as the game hasn't even released yet, so all instances of money being returned are for pre-orders that have already been paid out.

The reason why everyone is so up in arms surrounds the accusation that developer The Chinese Room has pulled content out of the base game in order to redistribute and sell it separately as paid DLC.

This is understandably frustrating for people who have already paid for the game and expected that content to be present, and it's a bad sign to be doing that before it has even had the chance to be released.

News of the refund came following an official announcement from the developers on X, as they wrote:

"Hi. We're making adjustments and will share the details on Sept 17. Big changes take time, and we want to do this right. PS Store pre-orders will be refunded on Sept 8. You'll be able to pre-order again before launch on Oct 21. Thanks for your patience; we'll share more soon!"

It's good that people are getting their money back and changes are being made, but it wouldn't be surprising if those same people will be as willing to hand over their money again when pre-orders open back up, as this type of thing tends to leave a stain that's hard to get out.