Lawsuit Brought Against Sega and Gearbox Over Aliens: Colonial Marines False Advertising Claims

[Shawn Zipay]

Both Sega and Gearbox are listed as the defendants in a lawsuit that claims the two companies falsely advertised Aliens: Colonial Marines as being something that it wasn't.

Filed yesterday in the Northern District of California by Edelson LLC law firm on behalf of Damion Perrine, the lawsuit claims that both Gearbox and Sega falsely represented Colonial Marines during various trade show preview events. The suit says that the demos shown and promoted to fans at events like E3 and PAX were not accurate representations of the final product.

The lawsuit also claims that by sending out review copies of the game with an embargo that lifted just hours before the game was released, those who pre-ordered had no way of knowing the differences between the demo footage and the final game. The suit aims to seek damages for everyone who purchased the game prior to or on the release date.

"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 reads. "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."(...)

"The gaming community had a strong reaction to the release of Aliens: Colonial Marines," Edelson LLC's Ben Thomassen said. "We think the video game industry is no different than any other that deals with consumers: if companies like Sega and Gearbox promise their customers one thing but deliver something else, then they should be held accountable for that decision."

The big issue here is that if this case actually rules against Sega and Gearbox, it could set a precedent for every development studio. A common tactic in offering game previews or demos is that sometimes screenshots are fudged a bit and made to look better than the final game visuals. Sometimes demos include content, levels, or level design that is never in the final game.

I'm not saying there isn't a case here, especially as I'm no legal expert, but Sega and Gearbox are certainly not the only studios that do things like this.

(via Polygon)

[CptainCrunch]

We have seen many of these lawsuits over the years though and I dont know if any have won.

The pictures and promises though that this game presented to its customers vs. other games is quite a bit more.

I personally feel that if this lawsuit doesn't win, none of them will. I don't own the game and have nothing against the companies involved, but I have seen the pictures and videos showing the differences and I feel it is a bit extreme.

It's one thing to use a super computer or rendered photos to show how great your game is and another to have things removed and stripped and incomplete like this one.

And maybe I am wrong on my thinking. Those that own the game can say otherwise. I'm just going by what I have seen online.

[K-16]

The way I see it, win or lose, future trailers will have a disclaimer saying the final product may change. Sega has already done it for the European market in response to complaints from the Advertising Standards Agency, so they can simply do the same for the rest of the world. Nothing will change, and we will continue to have bullshots with no legal consequences as long as there's a disclaimer to keep us cautiously optimistic.

[spoiler=Completely off-topic. Pay no mind.]I like how the gaming industry has the potential to set new standards for other industries. The news we watch and read will be researched as much as the mainstream gaming press (an E-mail from a random source, Reddit and 4chan, another news source without referencing), dealerships will soon sell vehicles performing half as well as advertised and no refunds will be provided, but they'll give you store credit and later optional features become available for free provided you stick sponsored decals on your car, and products will no longer look or work as you see on TV, because there's a footnote on TV that says the product isn't finalized. I can't wait to see what the future has in store.[/spoiler]