In its continuing effort to set itself apart from market leader Steam, EA has announced that titles it publishes on its Origin digital distribution service can now be returned for a full refund up to seven days after purchase if the consumer isn't completely satisfied.

The newly revealed Great Game Guarantee program will put a handy "request a refund" button right on the Origin order history page for eligible games. For now, only games published directly by EA on Origin will be eligible for the program; titles from other third-party publishers can't be returned. DLC is also not eligible for the guarantee.

Refunds can be requested for games up to seven days after they're purchased (or pre-ordered), but if you download and play the game once, you narrow that window to 24 hours from the time of the first play (that applies to all games in a multi-game bundle if you play a single game in that bundle, as well). After you request a refund, EA promises to respond within two days and issues your refund within seven to ten days, if you meet the timing criteria.

Aside from the US and Mexico, the new digital return program applies to 19 other countries throughout Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Still, major markets like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, Germany, Russia, and Poland are being told they should expect the guarantee to apply to them "soon."

EA already offered a "14-day unconditional guarantee" for physical games sold through its online store.

The new return policy comes more than five months after the company staunchly refused to issue refunds to players unhappy with issues surrounding the launch of the new SimCity earlier this year. At the time, an EA forums community manager told players that "you can of course request a refund for your order" before amending the statement to reflect EA's long-standing policy against digital returns.

Valve's Steam, which still controls the vast majority of downloadable PC game sales, does not offer refunds for its games as a matter of policy. Valve does make rare exceptions to this blanket policy, though, as it did for Grand Theft Auto IV's buggy PC launch, for players offended by Bioshock Infinite's religious content, and for the misleadingly unfinished release of The War Z. Still, if EA is able to extend its new return policy to other third-party titles on Origin, it has the potential to be a major factor in differentiating the service from the Steam juggernaut.

Android phones have long offered users a 15-minute "refund window" for games and apps downloaded through its Google Play store. GoG.com currently lets players exchange purchased games for another title of equal or lesser value, but only if the purchased game hasn't been downloaded yet, and only within seven days.

Aside from those limited examples, though, EA's digital return policy is largely unique in the world of game downloads. GameStop doesn't offer refunds for games downloaded through its Impulse PC download service, though its policy says it will consider making exceptions in cases where technical issues prevent game access. Ubisoft's UPlay, Amazon's game download service, and indie-focused online game store Desura do not offer refunds. Downloaded games from the Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network, and the Nintendo eShop are similarly not refundable after purchase.

Just last week, EA offered a number of its legacy games as downloads on either Steam or Origin as part of a pay-what-you-want Humble Bundle and donated its portion of the sale proceeds to charity.