Origin’s “Great Game Guarantee” applies to all games published by EA itself and a few third-party games. If you’re not happy with a game purchase, you can return it for a refund—just like on Steam. Origin began offering refunds before Steam did, but Steam’s refund policy does apply to a wider selection of games.
How Origin’s Great Game Guarantee Works
RELATED: How to Refund a Game on Steam
Origin’s Great Game Guarantee allows you to return games for a full refund. You can return the game for whatever reason you like. “If you don’t love it, return it”, encourages Origin’s website. However, not all games are eligible for this guarantee.
All of EA’s own games are eligible for the Great Game Guarantee if you purchase digital copies of them on Origin. A few third-party games are eligible, but most third-party games on Origin are not. You’ll see whether a game is eligible for the Great Game Guarantee during the purchase process.
Only digital copies of games are eligible. If you buy a physical boxed copy of a game that comes with an Origin code and redeem that code on Origin, there’s no way to refund the game and get your money back if you don’t like it.
Only full games are eligible for a refund. You can’t refund a downloadable content (DLC) purchase.
Even if a game you purchase is eligible for a refund, there are some limitations. If you’ve launched the game, you can request a refund within 24 hours from the time you first launched the game. That means if you want to play a few hours before you decide to keep it, you have to play them all on that first day. This is different than Steam’s policy, which lets you refund a game up to 14 days after purchase (not launch), but will only let you play for two hours. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
If you haven’t launched the game, you can request a refund from within seven days of the time you purchased the game. If you pre-ordered the game but haven’t launched it yet, you can request a refund from within seven days of the game’s release date.
There’s one other exception for new EA games: If you buy an EA game within 30 days of its release date and you can’t play it due to technical problems like server issues, game bugs, or other problems under EA’s control, you can request a refund from within 72 hours of the time you first launch the game instead of the usual 24 hours.
So, when you buy an eligible game on Origin, be sure to try it out within a week and make a decision on whether you want to keep it within 24 hours after you first launch it. Here are the full terms of the guarantee.
How to Refund a Game
To refund a game, visit the Request a refund page on EA’s website and sign in with your Origin account.
You’ll see a list of games you own that are currently eligible for a refund. Click the “Select” button to the right of the game you want to refund and click “Next”.
Select the reason you want to return the game and click “Confirm”. Whether you thought the game was too short, too buggy, or not fun enough, or whether you couldn’t connect to the servers or just bought the game by accident, you’re eligible for a refund. There’s an “Other” option you can choose if your issue doesn’t appear in the list.
It doesn’t matter which reason you select, but you can provide more information to Origin and the game’s developers by selecting a precise reason.
You’ll see a message saying your refund is being processed and that you’ll hear back from EA within 48 hours.
You can view the status of your current and past refund requests at the My cases page on EA’s website.
If everything goes well, you’ll receive an email saying your refund request was approved and the money will be returned to the payment method you used to buy the game on Origin. It will take some time for the money to be returned to your payment method, however. EA’s website says that it can take 7 to 10 days before you receive the refund.
If you don’t get a response within a reasonable amount of time or your request vanishes from the My cases page, EA’s website advises you contact EA support for more help.
