End of 'free games' from GAME?

The days of buying a title from GAME in the full knowledge that you'll be getting your money back in little more than 10 days – long enough to finish 90 per cent of games – could be drawing to an end, according to the print edition of this week's game retail newspaper, MCV.

"GAME has confirmed to MCV that a number of stores are currently trialling the new scheme which sees the '10 day' scheme replaced with a more traditional 28 day return – but the game can only be returned on the condition that the game is unopened," the newspaper states.

"GAME will place its own seal on boxed product, and exchanges or refunds will be refused if this seal is broken. The move is believed to have been the result of growing pressure from publishers," MCV adds.

Publishers and console manufacturers are ever more vocally frustrated about not seeing a return from their increasingly expensive investment in making games in cases where people are actually playing their titles.

The result has been several flare-ups over the past few months over games rental and the selling of pre-owned games; the latter, for instance, sees publishers make no extra revenue from multiple gamers playing the very same copy of a game.

Many gamers, meanwhile, will say games are too expensive, or could threaten to turn to piracy instead, so it will be interesting to see how this one pans out.