EA's Origin touts satisfaction-guaranteed digital refund policy

In a bid to differentiate itself from its leading competitors, EA has announced that Origin now offers full, limited-time refunds on online games purchases. Electronic Arts' native digital distribution platform has been in the news as of late, starting with a charitable Humble Bundle which has proven so effective it crashed game key redemption within the first 12 hours and has generated over $7 million U.S. for charity to date. For a game to qualify for the "Great Game Guarantee," EA must receive refund requests within seven days from the date of purchase or seven days from the game's release date if the title was pre-ordered or pre-purchased. Games can also be eligible if a refund request is placed within 24 hours of the first time launching or running a game. (In the case of bundles that include multiple games, the 24-hour countdown begins when the first game of the bundle is launched.) Returns are an oft-requested feature for many digital distribution platforms and, as yet, has not seen widespread implementation. Neither Steam nor Desura, the latter recently acquired by Linden Lab, offer refunds -- although Steam allows cancellations on preorders and Desura accommodates chargebacks on a case-by-case basis, per its terms of use. UPDATE: Corrected terms of refund request.