Nintendo Switch just got this long-awaited feature

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Nintendo will now let you get refunds on Switch game pre-orders

Nintendo Switch
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

One of the problems with buying digital editions of Nintendo Switch games was that if you changed your mind about pre-ordering a game, you couldn’t get a refund. But that has finally changed.

Pre-orders made through the Nintendo Switch eShop can now be canceled for a full refund, as long as the cancellation is made before the game is pre-loaded or at least seven days before it’s released. 

“When you pre-order content on Nintendo eShop, payment will not be processed until, at earliest, 7 days before the game is released. You can cancel a pre-order any time before the payment is processed and the game is pre-loaded on your system,” Nintendo explained. And it posted a handy FAQ that details how pre-orders and pre-loading games works through the eShop. 

Nintendo will also spell out when a game will be pre-loaded, giving its customers plenty of warning as to when the cut-off for a refund will happen. 

Before this policy change, Nintendo would charge eShop customers straight away for their pre-orders. Given some eShop games can go for quite high prices, it’s not surprising why this policy could frustrate some Nintendo Switch users. 

This consumer-friendly move helps Nintendo catch up with other online gaming stores and platforms. Steam, for example, will let you get a full refund of a game if you haven’t played more than two hours of it. And if you don’t play a game downloaded through the Google Play Store, you can get a refund for that if you act quickly. 

There's not exactly a vast amount of Nintendo Switch games to pre-order at the moment, with titles such as Breath of the Wild 2 and Metroid Prime 4 still a ways out. And we’d not be surprised to find out that Nintendo is keeping things on the down low while the PS5 and Xbox Series X steal the gaming headlines, with both consoles expected to launch in November time. 

Roland Moore-Colyer
Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.