How can that be enforced? How do you know the software has been removed from the computer/ console after the refund? I thought everyone hated DRM. A lot money the EU would have to shell out to fight piracy. Even registered license keys don't work well.

I hope this spreads, so this garbage can finally get fixed.

AND so Bethesda has to take more time in making The Elder Scrolls games playable at launch.

The video game industry gets a free pass because its a completely different and complex form of entertainment. Its not something you just stare at or listen to. You wouldn't know if a music CD or movie was half finished and there is no guarantee on the quality of those.

If frame rate stutters are bother you then you shouldn't be playing games period. Games aren't held to the same standards as movies for obvious reasons.

You're cherry picking a few example of buggy games and ignoring most games work great with little regulation.

These kinds of regulations could stop games from hitting the market or being released in certain regions. Let the market solve this relatively small issue, not government. The goverment just rapes everyone out of money and fucks things up.

I know its complex, though the people working on the games should be competent enough to release an unbroken product. Time should be taken to guarantee the game is released in a fit enough state, not a broken state.

Of course Im cherry picking the games that have had major problems, because thats the whole point of this. These games shouldnt have been released in the states they were. They should have been tested fully before millions of people went out and spent £X on them. The games that have minimal problems, framerate stutters and general glitches, arent really the problem. The nigh-unplayable games that feature game breaking bugs are the ones presenting the problem.

Im not saying every dev/pub that releases a videogame that has a bug or a glitch is at fault. Im saying the devs/pubs that release totally broken games are at fault. There needs to be a greater focus on quality assurance and proper testing. The majority of devs and publishers are alright in this regard, but now and then you get a game released in a totally shitty state (See Sim City, Skyrim, Arkham Origins, Battlefield).

The developers who actually put time and effort into making sure the content they release is okay for launch should have no problem with this.

The problem is you don't know where regulations will draw the line. You have in your head what ideal amount of regulation is. But in reality, government goes much futher than you usually want them to.

A few games being a buggy mess is no reason to let the government start regulating this form of entertainment. That rarely ends well.

Publishers boicoting UK in 3,2,1...

LOL I wish I can 'like' posts here. Absolute gold.

Ban the Day One patch!

You misunderstand the scope. The law is neither about video games nor about software bugs.

It's about any digital good (music, films, games, packaged software, probably even Bitcoins). And it gives a right of return or refund if the product is DEFECTIVE. The legal standard for this is far higher than "buggy". It has to not perform as advertised.

Secondly, the UK ALREADY HAS laws identical to this for physical goods ordered online. This actually reduces the amount of regulatory burden because it now applies to every good instead of some of them. UK businesses already coexist with a high degree of consumer regulation; physical video game prices are already higher to take into account the effects of physical returns. Digital content retains that high price without that right, before this law.

I like this cuz it makes perfect sense. I just hope more countries adopt this, that way we'll have less broken games being sold at full price...Bethesda I'm look at you!