Warcraft III: Reforged launched on PC last week, and the reception hasn’t been particularly kind. Players criticized the game for missing features present in the original version, a poor interface, and bugs. For those unhappy with the technical state of the game, Blizzard is offering automatic refunds.
Blizzard is now offering speedy and automatic refunds to those who have already purchased Warcraft III: Reforged, as a Reddit user pointed out in a February 3 post. The user said the process was quick and that reporting it as a “tech issue” expedited the process. The reported bugs, rather than issues about game quality, could be why Blizzard decided to offer refunds. The bugs include the failure to load into custom games, with defeat screens instead being displayed when starting a mission.
The refund request page can be accessed via Blizzard’s official support website. After selecting the game in question and choosing the “request a refund” option, players can begin the process and, hopefully, receive a refund for the purchase. The refund option should be available regardless of when the game was purchased, according to the Reddit user, who said they pre-ordered Warcraft III: Reforged over a year before release.
Blizzard has also removed restrictions based on how much time players have spent in the game, so the process should be quick and easy.
The company also apologized for the game’s current state, saying it is sorry for those who “didn’t have the experience [they] wanted.”
Aside from the game’s technical issues, Warcraft III: Reforged was criticized for Blizzard’s new user-created content policy. Under the new agreement, Blizzard claims rights to all user-created content in its game, meaning something like Dota (which was created as a mod in the first Warcraft III) would now fall under Blizzard’s ownership rather than the player who designed it, and players can no longer profit off these creations.
Blizzard has occasionally offered refunds in the past, but the turnaround is typically not as swift. When Diablo III launched for PC in 2012, serveral issues and technical problems kept players from starting the game. Players in South Korea were offered refunds about a month later after the country’s Fair Trade Commission launched an investigation, though anyone who played to level 40 or above was ineligible. The PC version required an internet connection, which was removed when it was ported to consoles. The upcoming Diablo IV will also require an internet connection, and will include a greater focus on multiplayer.
Updated on February 6, 2020 with information on no-questions-asked refunds,
