Can't Digital Download Game On New Xbox One

Back in the day, if a video game didn’t work or you just didn’t like it, you could take it back to the store and have the person behind the register laugh in your face when you asked for your money back. These days, getting a refund is a labyrinthine of web forms, logins, and annoying capchas. You can still get your money back, though. Here’s how.

I know on the 360 you have to change the drm to your new/console, otherwise you have to be connected to xbox live for the transfered games to work, I assume it is the same for the Xbox One, in fact in pretty sure its the same. This means only 1 of you need buy a game off the Game Store and it can be accessed and played from each others Xbox One console. Should be able to access and download all content from each.

Maybe you bought a digital game by mistake, downloaded something only to find it was broken, unplayable, or wouldn’t even run on your PC because of some obscure technical issue (looking at you DirectX)? As digital gaming has proliferated, so have the platforms and the sometimes confusing rules for how to try to get your money back if things don’t pan out.

Nintendo

I love my Switch. I bet you love yours too, assuming you own one, which of course you do because why else would you be reading this section? You know what I don’t love? The fact that the Switch’s eShop has no return policy. All sales on the platform are final. Whether you bought the wrong game by accident or it has too many performance issues, you’re out of luck.

This goes for pre-orders as well, something that became the topic of some discussion recently, after Norway’s Consumer Council claimed that EU law required people to be able to get a refund on pre-ordered digital games prior to their release. In response, Nintendo said the policy was “fully compliant” with European laws. At least overseas, you can still cancel a digital pre-order up to 14 days after forking over your money. In North America that’s not the case: per Nintendo’s website, “All sales (including pre-purchases) are final.” This is the case for the 3DS and Wii U digital stores, as well as the Switch’s.

Sony

While it varies from region to region, Sony’s stance regarding refunds is pretty strict. The PS4 Terms of Service repeatedly make reference to there being no refunds on digital content “except where the law requires that they are refundable.”

Unfortunately, the same goes for digital pre-orders. According to the Terms of Service, “Unless otherwise required by law, you may not cancel or obtain a refund for a pre-order or an order for a content bundle once you place your order, and pre-ordered content or content included in a bundle may be changed without notice.” Even if for whatever reason a game isn’t working, there are no guaranteed refunds on the PS4.

Microsoft

Microsoft doesn’t do game refunds. This means no returning digital Xbox One games or anything digital bought from the Microsoft Store. You can cancel pre-orders and get the full value refunded prior to a game’s release, though. For Xbox Games this requires going to the Xbox Support site, selecting “billing” as the problem, and then following the prompts until you’re chatting with an Xbox Support person. Canceling pre-orders on the Microsoft Store is slightly easier. All you have to do is go to your order history, find the pre-order, and select cancel.

Last year, Microsoft began testing “Self-Service Refunds” for select members of the Xbox Insider program. This made it possible to return games that had been owned for less than two weeks and played for less than two hours, no questions asked. Almost a year later, however, the option still hasn’t been rolled out for everyone.

Steam

Getting a refund on Steam is straightforward. I once bought the wrong game by mistake (lot of stuff with “Dungeon” in the title these days) and was able to refund it, buy, and download the correct game all within about fifteen minutes.

You can return any Steam game within 14 days as long as you’ve played it for less than two hours by going to the Help page. Once there, you’ll need to scroll down to the “A Purchase” section and click it, and then pick the game you want to return from the list that comes up. You’ll then be prompted to select the problem with the game and then click that you’d like a refund. Add a brief comment explaining why you want the refund and where you want the payment sent to, hit “submit request,” and you’ll be on your way. You should also get an email confirming your request.

If for whatever reason your request gets denied, you can always resend it. Valve says a different employee will review it, meaning you could get a different outcome the next time. In addition, the company leaves the possibility open of getting refunds for games you’ve played more than two hours of or owned longer than 14 days depending on if Valve is feeling generous. Finally, Steam does a lot of sales. It’s always possible that something you recently bought got a severe discount just a few days later, in which case Valve offers refunds based on the above guidelines. “We do not consider it abuse to request a refund on a title that was purchased just before a sale and then immediately rebuying that title for the sale price,” it says in the refund section.

Uplay

Sorry, Ubisoft doesn’t do refunds for digital games either. Womp, womp.

Origin

EA’s digital game client is one of the best when it comes to refunds. You can get your money back on any EA game or participating third-party titles (here’s a list of them) as long as you make the request within 24 hours of starting the game or seven days after purchasing it if you don’t run it at all. If there’s a technical issue keeping you from being able to start the game, you have an entire month to get your money back.

Origin even has a dedicated refund page where, as long as you’re logged in, it will show you any of the games in your library that qualify. Once you’ve logged the request, you can check on the status over in the “My Cases” part of the website, and if it’s not showing up or not getting resolved, contact customer service to get things sorted. The same goes for cancelling pre-orders.

Can't Digital Download Game On New Xbox One Computer

App Store

You can request a refund for anything you buy on the App Store, although there’s no clear cut guidelines for if you’ll ultimately get your money back. As long as it’s within 90 days of the purchase, you can report a problem with something you bought and an Apple customer service person will review it and decide whether to give you the refund.

You can do that via the Report a Problem page by signing in with your Apple ID and selecting the app you want to get rid of from the right tab. From there you’ll have to enter a description of the issue and then submit the request.

Google Play Store

Google has a much more transparent process than Apple. Within two hours of purchase you can get a refund by going into the Google Play Store, opening up your order history, and then selecting the app you want the refund on.

After two hours there’s still a window to return a digital good, but you’ll have to act within 48 hours and also fill out an online form. Make sure you have your purchase order number for this part. At some point over the next couple of days (but usually much sooner) a customer service person will review the request and decide if the refund will go through or not.

Itch.io

Itch.io is one of the most open and diverse digital game stores out there, with offerings ranging from critically-acclaimed games like Night in the Woods to random vaporwave experiments. That also means being a buyer there requires having a discerning and savvy eye, and that mistakes can happen.

Itchi.io handles refunds on a case by case basis. There aren’t any strict limits on what can be refunded, but at the same time you’ll be at the mercy of whatever the person reviewing your request decides. The generally valid refund reasons are if a game won’t run or otherwise can’t be accessed, was purchased by accident, or differs greatly from what was advertised. That last one’s a real doozy; have you read some of the game descriptions on the platform? All requests go through Itchi.io’s customer support, where you can email them your account details and reason for the return and then hope for the best.

Humble Bundle Store

Can't Download Game Xbox One

Digital returns for Humble Bundle are also completely at the discretion of the company. However, Humble does state that games that have already been played or keys that have been redeemed are “likely ineligible” for refunds (though their vague language indicates it’s not entirely impossible depending on the circumstance). Monthly bundles are also not returnable.

If you do have an issue with something you purchased there, you can go ahead and email Humble Bundle tech support within 60 days with your email address, transaction ID number, the url for the game listing, and a short explanation of why you want the refund. If you bought one game but actually wanted a different one, Humble Bundle suggests making the second purchase before waiting for the refund if the item you really wanted is on sale or otherwise discounted.

GOG

Good Old Games, the digital storefront owned by CD Projekt Red, likes to tout its Money Back Guarantee policy. Basically it says that if you’re having problems getting a game to work properly and GOG is unable to resolve them, you’ll get a full refund of your purchase if it’s within 30 days regardless of how much time you’ve spent trying to play it.

At the same time, that leaves a lot of wiggle room, and the site’s refund section mentions in several places that any potential refund is first predicated on them determining your game isn’t working as it should. That means the process involves having to interact with someone and spend time trying to troubleshoot whatever issues you list for why you want to return something. That process, should you decide the headache is worth it, can be initiated by filling out a form over on the Customer Support page. Pre-orders can be cancelled anytime prior to the game’s release, but those requests also have to go through Customer Support.

Requesting refunds for digital games won’t always work. As you can see from the list above, a few storefronts don’t offer them at all, or are still working on updating the process and making it easier to use. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try if you think there’s a legitimate reason for you to get your money back.

If you have any advice of your own for getting refunds or a particular success (or horror) story you’d like to share, be sure to leave a comment!

Correction: an earlier version of this article referenced the European standards for refunds instead of the North American ones.

Today's video game consoles are quickly shifting over to online-centric experiences, with digital distribution, multiplayer and content expansion packs being the norm for big budget titles. With this new-found focus, getting the best connectivity hugely enhances your Xbox One experience. Here are some in-depth tips to improve your console's networking setup.

Before getting underway with improving your console's connectivity, you'll first need to make sure your console is correctly connected. The Xbox One supports both wired and wireless connections, with a relatively streamlined setup process.

Wired connections almost always offer the best speeds and stability, with a direct line to your console. While wireless can still provide adequate download and upload speeds, a wired connection is unmatched, especially over distance. By going wireless, you'll be getting the benefits of convenience, without a physical cable between your router and console.

Connecting to Xbox Live with Wi-Fi

To connect your Xbox One to the internet with a wireless connection, you'll need an active Wi-Fi connection within range of the device. By following the steps below, getting your console first connected to the internet is relatively streamlined.

Unplug your ethernet cable, if one is connected.
Open the Settings app on your Xbox One console.
Navigate to the Network tab.
Select Network settings.
Select Set up wireless network.
Choose your wireless network from the list of available networks.
Enter your network password. If correctly entered, an on-screen notification is displayed, reading 'Everything is good.'
Click Continue to finish the setup process.

Connecting to Xbox Live with a wired connection

For those using a traditional wired connection, the setup process on Xbox One is significantly easier. To get started, simply plug an ethernet cable into the back of your console. After the cable is recognized, the console will automatically attempt to connect to Xbox Live.

Fix multiplayer issues over Xbox Live

A near-instantaneous connection is often required for online multiplayer experiences, with even the slightest delay potentially making for game-breaking issues. While the complexities of modern networks can result in a wide range of problems, we've compiled some fixes for common issues.

1. Check your connection

Before attempting to improve multiplayer connectivity, we first recommend checking your connection via your Xbox One. This will give you an idea of various network statistics, which can be used to diagnose any potential problems with your current setup. Network statistics can be obtained via the console's Settings app using the steps listed below.

Open the Settings app on your Xbox One
Navigate to the Network tab
Open Network settings
Select Detailed network statistics on the right side of the screen

After your connection is checked, values for speed, packet loss, and latency should all be displayed on the screen. These can all influence multiplayer performance, determining how efficiently data is transferred between your console and a server. Speed should be as a high as possible, with lower packet loss and latency ideal. From previous experience, we recommend over 2MBps for a passable multiplayer experience, a packet loss close to zero percent, and latency under 200 ms.

2. Multiplayer design is sometimes to blame

Depending on the type of game you're playing, ideal conditions sometimes aren't replicable due to the nature of a game's online infrastructure. Although most of today's titles launch with stable multiplayer functionality, approaches to networking have infamously harmed certain games from the outset. Two common approaches to online networking are often seen nowadays: peer-to-peer (P2P) networking or dedicated servers.

Dedicated servers are becoming increasingly popular, with a central server hosted solely to accommodate multiplayer matches. Often hosted in a central location with low latency unrivaled by other solutions, this setup can reduce any form of noticeable lag within the capabilities of the host. Provided dedicated servers are hosted across the globe, lag is less common with this type of technology.

P2P networking relies solely on player networks to host multiplayer matches, using one of the player's consoles as a central server. Although this is a considerably cheaper option to develop, using a home connection to host multiplayer matches can result in undesirable latency and interruptions not seen with dedicated servers.

While dozens of hosting factors can cause multiplayer issues, users can expect better performance with dedicated servers. If you're experiencing issues with some multiplayer games, the cause may simply be linked to the game's design. Make sure to search online to see if other users are experiencing issues and whether certain titles can be improved on a per-case basis.

3. Aiming for Open NAT

Network Address Translation (NAT) allows multiple devices to map internal IP addresses to external addresses, for use when connected to the internet. This technology plays a huge role in connectivity with multiplayer games, deciding how incoming traffic is handled.

When connected to Xbox Live, you may have seen terms thrown around which indicate the leniency of NAT types. This somewhat represents your compatibility with other players, with stricter NAT types often experiencing issues with multiplayer connectivity. A good way of showing how NAT influences connectivity is through a handy grid courtesy of Xbox Support. This shows compatibility between NAT types and why aiming for Open NAT makes for the best overall experience.

On a surface level, users with Open NAT will usually see the best experience on Xbox Live. While getting your NAT open is ultimately the end goal for the best connectivity, this has proven to be difficult for many users. There are a few workarounds which can improve your NAT. Here are some of the most effective options you might want to consider.

Note: Do not use a combination of Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), port forwarding and DMZ when configuring your Xbox One's connectivity. Make sure these are all disabled before moving between steps.

Universal Plug and Play: UPnP is a set of protocols which automatically handles port mappings in an attempt to improve communication in an effective manner. Although UPnP is automatically enabled on most modern routers, enabling this for the first time can drastically improve general connectivity. Again, the steps for checking can vary hugely between routers, so we recommend searching around online for your exact model.

Port Forwarding: Port Forwarding shares its similarities with UPnP. However, it requires manual rules to forward specific ports. Opening and forwarding specific ports on a per-service or per-game basis ensures the best connectivity with certain titles. For more information on port forwarding with your router, search online for specific information for your router.

DMZ: A demilitarized zone (DMZ) can be set up to remove internet restrictions on a device, essentially telling your router to send unsolicited traffic to your console. While this is almost certain to improve your NAT, it should be used as a last resort when troubleshooting. This is fine to use on an Xbox One console due to the restricted nature of the OS, but it should never be attempted with a standard PC.

Can't Digital Download Game On New Xbox One Player

Reduce Xbox One data use

With file sizes on the rise and a heavier reliance on internet access, modern consoles are prone to eating up data. If you're on a connection associated with a data limit, saving up those bytes is crucial to prevent a hefty bill. These are our top tips for reducing your Xbox One's data usage.

1. Check data usage in the Settings app

Before attempting to reduce your Xbox One's data usage, it's good to get a rough idea of the bandwidth your console uses at this point in time. That ensures your Xbox One's data use is worth addressing while also providing insight into your estimated savings after applying the following tips. Luckily, an in-depth breakdown of bandwidth use is tucked away within the Xbox One's Settings application.

Open the Settings app on your Xbox One
Navigate to the Network tab
Open Network settings
Select Bandwidth usage on the right-hand side of the screen

A log of your console's data use should now be displayed on the screen, with hourly figures for the past 24 hours alongside usage breakdowns on a per-month basis. This should give you an idea of how much data your console currently consumes and how it relates to any data caps you may have in place.

2. Disable automatic updates

As convenient as they may be, automatic updates are one of the easiest ways to unknowingly exceed your data limit with an Xbox One. With some recent titles surpassing 100GB, restricting the way your Xbox One updates can save a lot of data in the long run. Although this means you'll have to manually trigger updates as you want them, it can prevent undesired updates from sneakily downloading in the background. By enabling the Xbox One's energy-saving mode using the following steps, this prevents updates from downloading automatically.

Open the Settings app on your Xbox One
Navigate to the Power mode & startup tab
Change the console's power mode to Energy-saving

While this will prevent unwanted downloads, your Xbox One will no longer take advantage of sleep mode. If you want this feature, we simply recommend uninstalling unused games and apps to prevent updates from being downloaded.

3. Install via discs whenever possible

Even with Microsoft pushing towards a digital future, physical discs are still here to stay. If you're an avid gamer who frequently buys new games, buying a retail copy can be an easy way to cut down on data use. With disc-based titles installing directly off the disc, you'll only be using bandwidth for updates over Xbox Live. You'll probably find gaming a lot cheaper, too, with physical copies more heavily discounted than their digital counterparts.

4. Avoids becoming increasingly common for modern routers to offer dual-band connectivity, which provides access to both frequencies.
While 5GHz ideally offers a higher throughput than a 2.4GHz connection, you'll lose range in the process. However, the range of 2.4GHz connections isn't always a good thing, with possible interference from other 2.4GHz networks and separate local wireless devices. While wired is the way to go if possible, 5GHz networks are a great step up from the standard 2.4GHz offering.

3. Close all games and apps

Due to the nature of the Xbox One's OS, resources are prioritized for games and apps that are currently active. While this ensures a smooth overall experience, downloads can see reduced speeds when left running in the background. Software that also requires significant bandwidth, such as streaming applications, may also impact this speed.

To ensure content is downloaded at the fastest possible rate, close all games and apps currently running on the console. Alternatively, if you're using the Xbox One's instant-on power mode, games can be downloaded while the console is in a sleep state.

4. Avoid peak times

If you're often on your Xbox when you're first back from work or school, you may be experiencing lower-than-expected download speeds during peak times. Affecting both your internet service provider and Xbox Live, downloads may simply be slower due to high demand for the service. While there isn't a huge amount you can do to resolve such issues, you can try downloading content at a quieter time of day.

5. Change DNS settings

Domain Name System (DNS) settings are a huge aspect of the web, translating web domains to their internet protocol (IP) addresses. DNS servers are used to perform this translation and are the gateway to establishing connections to an address.

In most cases, users will most likely use the default DNS settings offered by your internet service provider (ISP). While using these settings is perfectly viable, you may see increased speeds when switching to a third-party anycast solution. Here's how to take advantage of popular third-party DNS services such as GoogleDNS and OpenDNS, on your Xbox One console.

Open the Settings app on your Xbox One
Navigate to the Network tab
Open Network settings
Select Advanced settings
Select DNS Settings
Select Manual to manually enter a new address
A screen will now appear to enter an address.
- If you're using Open DNS, enter 208.67.222.222
- If using Google DNS, enter 8.8.8.8.
- If using another third-party service, enter the primary address here.
After confirming the primary address, you'll next be prompted to enter a secondary address
- If you're using Open DNS, enter 208.67.220.220
- If using Google DNS, enter 8.8.4.4
- If using another third-party service, the secondary address should go here.

If you wish to revert back to your default DNS settings at any point in time, simply switch your DNS settings back to Automatic.

Note: If you're using an IPv6-enabled connection, the above IPv4 addresses can be used for IPv6 DNS lookups.

6. Enable Quality of Service (QoS)

While this tip is only recommended for our more advanced readers, enabling Quality of Service (QoS) can also bring a notable bump in the speed of your Xbox One downloads. Enabled through your router, QoS manages bandwidth depending on the current traffic on the network. This allows you to prioritize certain traffic types, to ensure bandwidth is allocated to your Xbox One when required.

However, with QoS tied to your router settings, the exact method and complexities behind the feature vary from model to model. We recommend searching online for your exact router, for further information on the feature.

Still need Xbox One help?

Experiencing other issues with your Xbox One? Need help with that new multiplayer game? Take a look at our Xbox Help page for more tips and tricks.

Updated October 8, 2018: Refreshed this guide with our latest Xbox One networking tips.

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