To want a refund?

[QuestionableMouse]

Bought a game for my computer a couple of days ago because I've been wanting to play it a while and had had a really shit week so decided on having a treat. (Cities Skylines 2) It's unplayable due to a bug that I can't fix (have tried everything I can find online, have contacted the game support and tried their ideas, noting). The screen is literally just yellow so you can't place anything.

I've played it for less than an hour and most of that time was spent trying things to get it to work. Computer is at the lower end but still within the specs.

I've been refused a refund (of £25!) because

"Unfortunately, once a code has been redeemed it gets linked to that account permanently. This cannot be reversed.

We operate a similar policy to other retailers and cannot issue a replacement or refund if the digital product has already been activated or redeemed."

Surely though this can't count if the game is bugged? I've had refunds from amazon for rented movies that were buggy.

So now I don't have the game and I'm out £25! Wibu to go through my bank instead?

Is the bug software or hardware related? i.e is it caused by your machine, or their code. If it's their code, you have the right to reject it and to receive a refund under the Consumer Rights Act as the data is not 1) Of satisfactory quality
2) Fit for a particular purpose 3) As described by the seller. Their policy does not trump the law. However, if the game is playable on a different machine, that's your problem.

Quick Google shows thats a common problem.
There are lots of things to try to resolve it.

What have you tried?

Have you looked here.

It seems to be an issue with how the game interacts with built in GPUs (I think that's right - I'm not very techy!)

I checked the specs carefully and had a friend who is techy check them too and my laptop is bang in the middle of them so should have been okay.

Yes, I have tried everything I can find online and it's still unplayable!

Did you get the game from cdkeys or similar?

Steam were offering refunds on cs2 because it was an absolute mess but it seems you didn't use steam.

Not sure on the legality of refunds on single use codes tho..

Yep it was CD keys because it was recommended to me as the best option.

I'll happily delete the game and confirm I don't have access to it anymore - I'd just like either a game that works or my money back to spend on something else!

Post a 1 star review on trust pilot and I reckon someone will get back to you.

I use cdkeys all the time, I've had a few refunds when I have purchased the wrong game, but I think it's pretty much impossible to get a refund on a redeemed code.

Digital downloads are slightly different
Found this here -
For digital downloads, consumers will need to waive their cancellation rights before digital content can be provided. This means that once a customer (ie the consumer) has downloaded the content, then they have given up their consumer rights to a refund.
Consumers will typically waive these cancellation rights when they purchase digital goods. This can be done through some form of verification box (such as a tickbox) for consumers to acknowledge that they have waived their consumer rights to a refund for digital content.

Here is another link to a fix for the issue - hope you can get it resolved

Unfortunately, you chose to buy from CDKeys at a cheaper price instead of paying full price direct through Steam, and so you agreed to CDKeys terms by completing the purchase.
Once you've redeemed the key from CDKeys, that's it, no refunds. It's not CDKeys fault that the game has bugs, every game ever made has bugs. They can't resell a redeemed key - so it's down to the game developer to fix the bugs.

"So now I don't have the game and I'm out £25! Wibu to go through my bank instead?"
CDKeys have delivered exactly what you purchased, a CD key to the game you wanted, so yes, you would be very unreasonable to try and get a chargeback from your bank.

If you had bought it directly from Steam, you would have had a 2 hour refund window. Steam is also full of negative reviews for that game, with many complaining about the same bug, and other bugs. It even shows as "Mostly Negative" Reviews on the game page on Steam. Did you not check this beforehand? Surely it would have been a big red flag for you.

CDKeys is incorporated in Sharjah. Consumer Rights Act won't apply - you'll be under UAE laws, which I suspect mean you are screwed.

In future use steam, your protected as a buyer. CDkeys work under UAE law.

Yeah, you bought through cdkeys. With your Amazon move example, it’s the same as buying the dodgy dvd from a man in a van next to the supermarket and then complaining you don’t get the same refund you would as through Amazon. It isn’t a super legit site, a lot of stuff on it is bought on stolen credit cards then sold to cdkeys to sell, so it’s grey market at best and straight up theft at worst. They’re not going to care you bought a game with known issues and then got the issue. You could potentially recharge but they’ll ban your account and details from purchasing again.

if you’ve got an integrated gpu then there’s a good chance you would have had a miserable time anyway, it’s pretty intensive and integrated gpus are not great. There’s a reason it doesn’t have good reviews.

This didn’t true-buggy games can be refunded as they literally cannot be used. Ckeys are notorious- try and find some forums with people saying the same thing.

thats why i only buy on steam as at least you get a refund if less than 2 hours playtime.

That's the risk you take with CD Keys unfortunately. If you buy directly through Steam there's usually a 2 hour play window where you can get a refund but not after. Leave it for a few months then come back to it when everyone else has played it enough for them to iron the bugs out (that's what I'm doing before I buy it!)

It's the first game I've bought in absolutely ages and even then I usually play on Xbox. CDkeys was recommended to me.

Awh that's such a shame, I'm so sorry OP!
I have CS2 and got it through CDKeys with no issues - I'm assuming you've already tried the Discord Servers for help?
I'll dig around for you if not and see if I can find any workarounds for you! :) <3

Now I want it, it looks amazing!

CD keys are super shady, you're unlikely to get anywhere.

Maybe an update will fix your problem as it only came out recently. Can you try it on friends pc?

It sounds like your CPU and GPU aren't good enough to run the game. It's a very intensive game and you need quite high in both. It's a game that runs primarily on your CPU but obviously you need a similar GPU, otherwise your computer would bottle neck. Do you have any idea what CPU and GPU you have? If not, what computer do you have?

It works perfectly well on my friend's laptop!

Not near mine atm, will post the specs tomorrow.

We did both check and it should have been fine!

I'm really sorry that's happened! I play CS2 on the Xbox app on my PC and it's a great game but really does need higher than basic specs. I haven't had any bug issues since the last patch.

Just happy to find another gamer lol.

Definitely sounds like your computer doesn't have the correct graphics card or at least the GPU within it. The CPU isn't really that important for running games. One of the reasons I went over to console gaming was because I was fed up of all the variants in system requirements.
Also CD Keys is dodgy as heck. I won't touch it. Everytime I do I get images of Nigerian princes

In future, before you buy any software for your laptop, do a proper check on a site like THIS. That will tell whether your actual machine will run each program/game, and you won't be relying on friends that say it 'should' run.