As of today, the Oculus Rift and Gear VR offer players refunds for ‘most apps’ on each platform.
Oculus says players can request a refund for any reason and, as long as the request is issued within a set amount of time, the refund will be processed automatically.
On the Rift, this means players have 14 days to request a full refund for an app, game, or experience purchased through the Oculus store as long as their playtime does not exceed two hours. On the Gear VR, those numbers drop to a three-day post-purchase window as long as players have clocked less than 30 minutes in the app.
However, the policy does not extend to DLC, in-app purchases, content purchased in a bundle, previously refunded apps, or content created outside of the Oculus platform. Additionally, Oculus says it has systems in place to block users from abusing the system through serial refunding. More details on both the Gear VR and Rift’s individual policies can be found on Oculus’ legal site.
Oculus first test-ran the refund system in the UK this past summer and has now brought the policies worldwide following the successful test period. The system is notably similar to how Steam handles digital game refunds, something that developers have understandably vocal about in the past.
In the case of Rust, Facepunch Studios head Garry Newman says he suspects that the system has overall had a positive impact on sales despite seeing a refund rate of 6 percent. “I think in the long run, people knowing the refund system is there probably gained us more sales than it lost us.”