Sega and Gearbox will defend against a class action suit that claims the companies falsely advertised Aliens: Colonial Marines.
"Unfortunately for their fans, [the] Defendants never told anyone - consumers, industry critics, reviewers, or reporters - that their 'actual gameplay' demonstration advertising campaign bore little resemblane to the retail product that would eventually be sold to a large community of unwitting purchasers," the suit reads.
The suit claims the enforcement of press embargoes - which lifted on the morning of the game's release - meant that early-adopters would be unaware of the differences between the demoes and the final product. The suit claims damages for those who purchased the game on its release date, and those who pre-ordered.
The suit also references Gearbox president Randy Pitchford, who Tweeted shortly after the game's launch that the complaints were "understood and fair," among other things.
Sega last month acknowledged complaints over 'inaccurate' Aliens: Colonial Marines adverts, promising to mark future footage as "demo versions."
Comments
33 comments so far...
Subject J80 on 30 Apr '13 said:
Does this mean I could sue for Alone in the Dark?
Drusus on 1 May '13 said:
If that's what you want, I'd save yourself the legal trouble and just buy a copy second hand, it's really cheap. Although I'm sure gearbox would just settle and send you Alone in the Dark out of confusion.
Mini-Nev on 1 May '13 said:
Im in two minds about this. On the one hand it might stop false advertising which is becoming annoyingly present but its a slippery slope and could lead to people trying to sue for tiny things.
vectra on 1 May '13 said:
Too late, people have started suing for everything now no matter how little.
jodders on 1 May '13 said:
I hope to god this at least brings about an end to shady practices like review embargoes and pre-release footage not bearing any resemblance to finished product! Like those eye-liner ads that now have to say 'advert filmed using inserts' or whatever it is. *DISCLAIMER* Aliens Colonial Marines: advertised with Bullshots!
vectra on 1 May '13 said:
Modern gamers don't know how good they have it!
In my day this is what I saw on the back of boxes.
http://postimg.org/image/rlsau2aoj/
*rocks back and forth in rocking chair*
Edit: Oh look, same company too
Mmmmgrolsch on 1 May '13 said:
This is one of those rare cases where I think that the gamers side should win. Let's be honest, Gearbox and Sega blatantly pulled a wool over everyone's eyes! Not the first time it happened but I've said all along the industry needs to be regulated to protect consumers.
If i see anyone come in here and say 'self entitled gamers' or some s**t then I really do give up on the gaming community of this forum.
EvilDog77 on 1 May '13 said:
lol. I know your pain. Got totally sick of seeing Amiga screenshots on my C64 game cases.
NEO_SUPERMAN on 1 May '13 said:
Just imagine if Kojima had released MGS2:Sons of Liberty today.
The idiotic part of our community of today would kick right off, and try to sue Konami because they thought they'd be playing as snake and not as cry baby, pussy whipped Raiden.
Actually, maybe they'd have a point with that one.
flyfletch on 1 May '13 said:
Much as i have a soft spot for Sega, i really believe they deserve to be hammered this time. What they did was downright wrong, i was very close to buying it then decided to wait, glad i did now!
I would have thought a company like Sega would be more honest and just have delayed the release to make thing better and told everyone why, not just put out false trailers and make everyone think it was going to be great. I also thought more of Gearbox, they should be ashamed.
Hopefully this will bring an end to review embargoes and sites/magazines will be able to let the public know a week or 2 before release if a game is complete crud.
TheLastDodo on 1 May '13 said:
Good.
brookie_2001 on 1 May '13 said:
There is always one sado who goes too far.
Ok the game wasn't what people expected, no need to sue them for it.
Hopefully this will get thrown out and the guy who filed the suit looks foolish.
c97dem on 1 May '13 said:
To be honest, the only people that should sue and who they should sue, is Sega suing Gearbox for wasting $60million on development, which mostly went to Borderlands 2 and then the hiring of Timegate to actually make Colonial Marines in a very short timespan
Bad Gearbox!
EvilWaterman on 1 May '13 said:
I had a CPC 464 with COLOUR monitor!!!
Gemini40 on 1 May '13 said:
nb_nmare2 on 1 May '13 said:
Just do what I do and assume that if there's an emargo, the game is crap. After all, what possible reason could there be for a good game be embargoed?
KK-Headcharge78 on 1 May '13 said:
I have a foot in each camp on this one, on the one side we all have the choice to see and in some cases try before we buy so perhaps this dude should just grow some, on the flip however Gearbox/Sega perhaps deserve some s**t for what was frankly a car crash of a game that demonstrates devs/pubs should not take the p**s out of the consumer so much.
subform on 1 May '13 said:
I pre ordered this through Shop To... played it for 15 minutes and binned it off. I think that the industry need to learn (and this is not the first time this has happened) that press embargos and hyped up advertising to shield a poor game is not something gamers will stand for.
Honestly, when you compare Borderlands with this and Duke Nukem... they are poles apart and I now will never pre-order another Gearbox game until I see exactly how good (or not)... it is.
To those that think this is not a big deal... £40 is a lot of money to some people...
...not me, I wipe my azz with tenners
illage2 on 1 May '13 said:
Amazes me how people are ready to jump on Sega for Aliens Colonial Marines but not once has anyone mentioned EA's failed launch of Sim City? No ....
sonic_uk on 1 May '13 said:
Oh no! Those early previews in Mean Machines Sega I saw of Streets Of Rage 3 back in the 90's showed some screenshots of a level on a bridge that wasn't in the final game. I must ring my lawyer immediately...
TheLastDodo on 1 May '13 said:
I agree with sonic, we've let developers & publishers walk over us for years, why fight back now?
It's irrelevant that they advertised a game they were never going to deliver, it's irrelevant that the game was a broken mess on release, it's irrelevant they tried to hide the truth from customers by embargoing the reviews until the game was already in people's hands.
Next time Sega/Gearbox, bring lube.
dwhlufc on 1 May '13 said:
This isn't a sim city article.
I've seen plenty of people moaning about sim city.......in sim city articles.
Imaduck on 1 May '13 said:
One of the incredibly few cases where it's fair and I hope the gamer's win. What was shown and what was sold are pretty much different games. False advertising through and through. If you still have doubts, Youtube it, Google it. Ridiculous. Enough evidence out there, saddened if this fails as they genuinely have a case here.
freds1 on 1 May '13 said:
I get the feeling whoever started this might win, and to be honest I hope they do. If for the only reason that it'll stop publishers and devs stop taking such bloody liberties in future, or at least stop and make them think.
Mmmmgrolsch on 1 May '13 said:
Yeah great logic there. Let's all hope that Publishers can continue to hide the truth and pretend a game is something that it's not.
@sonic, eh? Oh right because the industry has always used false advertising to hype their game they should continue to do it. Makes sense..... :/
richomack360 on 1 May '13 said:
But why would you preorder a game based on something you haven;'t played and upon seeing a graphic demo?
No point preordering these days, wait a month or two for all the bugs to be squished first.
Imaduck on 1 May '13 said:
Indeed Rich, but to be fair a lot of the CM stuff goes beyond the normal just "not as good as bullshots". It's more a different game really, from ai to layout and design.
tezza2001 on 2 May '13 said:
When the PSN or SEN has a gameplay video for you to download and view before you purchase and you are lead to believe that this is the game you will be purchasing.. then yes i think something should be done about it. The game looked fantastic in a walkthrough which was narrated by Randy Pitchford the President of Gearbox Software when this game was supposedly being played by someone else? The look of the game, nothing like what was shown. AI, sucked ( aliens and human ). This game was sold on false advertising and they should be kicked in the balls for it. Developers seem to think they can churn out crap and then fall back on updates ( 4gb + ) on PC. I won't be rushing out to get a game until I have read reviews from now on...
sonic_uk on 2 May '13 said:
My attempt at humor. The message I was trying to convey is that games often change before release and the early demos of ACM shown were just that, demos. Anyone in their right mind would accept that a early demo cannot be a definitive showcase for the final game. However, I don't see anyone up in arms about Bioshock Infinites early demos which look totally different to the final game and feature levels that aren't in the full game. Hell, even Elizabeth looks totally different. Should we all sue the developers of that game as well?
The only good thing I can see to come out of this is review Embargos possibly being outlawed which I fully support. They are there to do nothing but hide the truth and usually 9 times out of 10 if a game has a review Embargo its because its s***, and the publishers don't want the word to get out before they get the initial day one and pre-order sales. That is both misleading and highly immoral.
TheLastDodo on 2 May '13 said:
The difference there being with Bioshock, they've shown new, up to date footage, nearly every year since the first demo, they've shown footage of the first version, they've shown footage of the final version.
Go on youtube and search for the 'Beast of America' and 'Lamb of Columbia' trailer's. These trailers were released in the past few months and all footage is in-game, actual gameplay from the final version of Bioshock Infinite.
Ken Levine has also done many interviews with many sites, before release, talking about the changes that have been made over the years to the game and to Elizabeth.
Irrational have been open about the development of Bioshock Infinite whereas Gearbox hid as much as possible for Aliens.
Personally I hope Gearbox are hit hard by this lawsuit in the hope that they and other pubs/devs are forced to change their ways, stop lying to and trying to deceive customers with review embargoes and bullshots and such, don't know if it'll work but I hope it does.
FishyGinger on 2 May '13 said:
I'm sure I also saw on destructoid that sega were still showing the good demo footage after the games release but I may be mistaken. It's more forgivable if the game is considered good generally though.
Imaduck on 3 May '13 said:
If you aren't convinced yet, watch this THROUGH. Early stuff is pretty much "just" LOOKS like a different game, gets worse as it goes
. Need more, ask away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2qVebxlUo
sonic_uk on 3 May '13 said:
I accept that, but still, lots of games look very different from early demo footage and I don't think anyone can judge a game based off a demo or PR b***s**t. I think the real beef here is the guy simply doesn't like the game and thought he'd try and find a legal loophole to make himself rich. As I said before I do hope review embargo's are scrapped, they shouldn't have been allowed to exist in the first place, but suing a company because the finished game is different to an early preview demo is ridiculous.