I did some research into this when I worked for Improbable a few years ago, and back then it was remarkably difficult to try out games without going through a f

I did some research into this when I worked for Improbable a few years ago, and back then it was remarkably difficult to try out games without going through a full purchase and refund cycle, which in many cases was hit-and-miss and could actually get your account suspended in some stores which has tremendous impact since this is also tied to your online gaming persona. Since then I know some stores have loosened their policies and allow for a certain number of hours of game play within which you can get a full refund, and others have a time-since-purchase kind of limit. Back in the day when shareware was a thing it was much more prevalent with game demos, but that was also before game consoles really took over. Then physical stores made a difference, where you could go and try out a game before purchase, but of course those aren't really much of a thing anymore. My conclusion of the research then was that most games are simply not built with a demo in mind. It's more common these days for games to front load the introduction part of the game, often a tutorial, so that you can start playing before the game is fully downloaded, but back then it wasn't very common. This could work as a stand-alone demo and I know a few games that does this – Tomb Raider for example – from which you could then unlock the full game and download the rest. But it was (and might still be) an exception to the norm. My opinion is that online stores can and should put pressure on game devs (and engine makers in particular) to enable customers to play a demo of a game before committing to a purchase. It might not work for all kinds of games (particularly ones without single player elements) but I reckon it ought to work for a majority of them.