Gearbox sued for false advertisement.

Shadow Dragon · May 3, 2013

You know your game sucks when you get sued over it:

A class action lawsuit has been filed against SEGA and Gearbox regarding Aliens: Colonial Marines. In a lawsuit obtained by Polygon, plaintiff Damion Perrine claims “that Gearbox and Sega falsely advertised Aliens by showing demos at trade shows like PAX and E3 which didn't end up being accurate representations of the final product.”

The demos were advertised as “actual gameplay” at the time, yet portrayed a level of “graphical fidelity, AI behavior and even entire levels not featured in the game.” The suit explains that by having reviews under an embargo that lifted the day of release, consumers did not have time to learn from critics about the difference in quality in the final product compared to early footage.

"Each of the 'actual gameplay' demonstrations purported to show consumers exactly what they would be buying: a cutting edge video game with very specific features and qualities," the claim argues. "Unfortunately for their fans, Defendants never told anyone — consumers, industry critics, reviewers, or reporters — that their 'actual gameplay' demonstration advertising campaign bore little resemblance to the retail product that would eventually be sold to a large community of unwitting purchasers."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/03/gearbox-sega-sued-over-aliens-colonial-marines

I'm going to side with the plaintiffs. They pushed for preorders and day one sales with demos that were graphically superior, had better AI, levels and types of action that simply weren't in the final cut. They kept saying, this is the game, this is what you're going to get. And it ended up being a flat out lie.

Nox the Many · May 3, 2013

Yeah, there's no excuse for that.

And it's why I only order specific games that will be known quantities. The next Elder Scrolls game has a very high likelihood of looking like a better version of the last one; title I'm not familiar with is a gamble, especially without a flood of screenshots and reviews. Still, hope the game company learns its lesson. But I'm not holding my breath.

lilyWhite · May 3, 2013

It's not uncommon for demos, trailers, and early descriptions of games to differ from the final product, even for games which are well-received (such as Bioshock Infinite).

I think the major question boils down to whether Gearbox/Sega intentionally deceived people with demos/trailers that they knew wasn't representative of the game they were making.

Shadow Dragon · May 3, 2013

lilyWhite said:
It's not uncommon for demos, trailers, and early descriptions of games to differ from the final product, even for games which are well-received (such as Bioshock Infinite).

I think the major question boils down to whether Gearbox/Sega intentionally deceived people with demos/trailers that they knew wasn't representative of the game they were making.

Yes. They did. That's the thing, they told people and the media that it's actual game footage and that it's what the game is going to be like.

lilyWhite · May 3, 2013

Shadow Dragon said:
Yes. They did. That's the thing, they told people and the media that it's actual game footage and that it's what the game is going to be like.

To rephrase the question: Are those demos representative of the game they were making at the time that they released the demos? Was it an earlier version of the game that was scrapped for some reason? Or did they intentionally make a demo that was not like the game they were working on at the time?

veinglory · May 3, 2013

Either way, if the game they actually sold was different, rebranding or disclaiming would be required. Because from the consumer's point of view it's still a switch-a-roo when you do it because your game development sucks rather than because you were deliberately fooling them. It is a ruling about truth in advertising, not intent.

Maxinquaye · May 3, 2013

I had the misfortune to buy this game, and I agree with every negative thing that's been said about it. I was so disappointed and disinterested that I didn't even open a thread here to complain about it, because this game so squarely falls into the same category that every other damned game that uses a movie IP uses: the game designers can't be arsed to be either original or involved, and just go for audiovisual snuff porn accompanied by a dialogue of jingoistic, militaristic marine-lingo-nonsense.

It doesn't seem to matter if it's Star Trek, Star Wars, Alien or any other big film IP. As soon as game makers get their hands on the rights to make a game, they quickly expunge all that made the film Ips great in order to create a distorted mirror image of what has been done before, and the distortions just happen to bleach out anything original, anything new and fresh, as well as anything that attaches the game to the IP itself. It's like they believe that the mere name of Alien, Star Wars or Star Trek on a game package will be enough, as long as the animations are pretty and the texture resolution is high. And sometimes not even that, as in this game.

I definitely side with the suers in this case. Maybe if enough damages are laid in, it will deter other studios. I'm not holding my breath though.

Opty · May 3, 2013

That's disappointing to read because the demos and E3 coverage and interviews with the developers seemed very promising.

chloecomplains · May 3, 2013

This is why I wait until I hear from real people before buying a game. While this is certainly light-years worse than what normally happens, I've seen more games than I can count that looked awesome at the shows and then fell flat.

This is pretty much inexcusable but, in all honesty, not surprising. Caveat emptor.

Gearbox sued for false advertisement.

Shadow Dragon

Nox the Many

The prose is dark & full of errors

lilyWhite

Love and Excitement

Shadow Dragon

lilyWhite

Love and Excitement

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Maxinquaye

That cheeky buggerer

Opty

chloecomplains

Pinkamena Diane Pie