Development Update: Self-Refund, Keyless Partner Integration and Changes to Ownership Authorization

5.18.2020
Hey folks,

We're fast approaching the second half of 2020 and more feature-complete development work is live on the Epic Games Store. You'll find some of the recently shipped features and what's coming up next.

Missed out on the previous Dev Updates? NEW FEATURES

Self-Service Refunds
We've recently enabled the ability to self-refund qualifying purchases online by yourself. When you sign into your account on the Epic Games website, click the "Account" dropdown in the top right corner of the webpage, go to the "Transactions" tab and click the game title. If the game is eligible for a self-service refund, please click the "Refund" option to initiate the refund process.

All games are eligible for a refund within 14 days of purchase for any reason. However, you must not have played more than 2 hours.

You will not be eligible for games from which you have been banned or for which you have otherwise violated the terms of service. In addition, you may not be eligible for refunds if Epic determines that you are abusing the refund policy.
 
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How will I receive my refund?
Once a purchase has been selected for refund, it will be refunded to the payment method used to make the purchase, however, this may not always be possible depending on the payment method. Also, note that the amount of time for a refund to process is dependent on your payment method. You can read more on the Epic Games Store Refund policy here.

Changes to Ownership Authorization
As part of our Self-Service Refunds initiative and to better support offline play, we are making changes to the way Epic Games Launcher checks the ownership of installed games.

This now occurs earlier in the launch process so players are informed if their account does not own an installed title that is being launched. If ownership does not pass this authorization check Error Code: LS-0021 will display the following:

This account does not have ownership of [game title]. If you wish to play this game, please purchase it in the store or log in with an account that does have ownership.

Special consideration was taken to try and provide an uninterrupted experience in cases of network instability or outages. For those instances, the Epic Games Store client keeps memory of owned titles, which it will automatically keep updated whenever players are online and signed-in. If for whatever reason it cannot reach our services, it will still allow the launch of the titles in this memory.

If you encounter Error Code: LS-0021, you can review this article for assistance: https://epic.gm/ls-002

Keyless Integration
Today we announced partnerships with third-party digital sales platforms; Fanatical, Green Man Gaming, and Genba Digital to offer keyless purchases for Epic Games Store titles. These partnerships make it easier for players to purchse games from third-party sites, by allowing them to link their Epic Games Store accounts to their retailer of choice.

Players will no longer need to take additional steps to redeem a key which often includes exchanging 20-digit redemption codes. Instead, this provides more confidence knowing a purchase is coming from a legitimate source and that it is directly attributed to your linked Epic Games account.

Bandwidth Management
We recently released the first iteration of bandwidth management tools for players looking to have more control over their download options. The tool recently shipped enables bandwidth limitations or "throttling" for players that have limited bandwidth availability and would like to perform installs and updates over a longer period of time.

This feature can be enabled in your "Settings" on the Epic Games Launcher.
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More Local Currencies
The Epic Games Store recently introduced support for five more currencies:
  • CAD
  • AUD
  • SEK
  • DKK
  • NOK
The currencies supported continue to be updated, so be on the lookout for any new changes in the future.

Development In Progress

Mod Support for Games
Players will soon be able to browse a catalog of player and developer made mods for their games. Players will be able to auto-install mods into games they own, that are managed by the Epic Games launcher or download the files separately for other games.
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Achievements
The Achievement service for titles on the Store is currently in development. We look forward to sharing more information about the system soon.
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