Gearbox and Sega sued over Aliens: Colonial Marines, both Companies Respond

[Talaris]

Original source is from Polygon. I haven't noticed that it's been mentioned here yet, so lock this if need be.


Basically the law firm Edelson LLC is suing on behalf of Damion Perrine. They are claiming that Aliens: Colonial Marines was falsely advertised by Gearbox Software and Sega at trade shows, misleading consumers by giving an inaccurate representation of the final product.

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.

Gearbox and Sega have since replied to IGN over the lawsuit, and said this:

Gearbox:

Attempting to wring a class action lawsuit out of a demonstration is beyond meritless. We continue to support the game, and will defend the rights of entertainers to share their works-in-progress without fear of frivolous litigation.

Sega:

SEGA cannot comment on specifics of ongoing litigation, but we are confident that the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend it vigorously.

As for my views on this, it's difficult say which side I agree with more. As a big fan of the franchise, I do want to see some justice brought to Gearbox over the whole ordeal, and not just the financial loss over poor sales for a bad product. On the other hand, media in general, particularly films and games, and continuously shown demos that differ from the final product, albeit in varying degrees. Aliens:CM is one of the worst examples, and this is why reading reviews on a final product is so important before buying.

So, Escapists, what are you views on this? Do you feel that the lawsuit is valid and has a chance to succeed, or feel that it's the buyers fault in general for purchasing a product based on a demo?

 

[Thoric485]

I think it takes a special kind of asshole to spin misleading journalists and gamers with a fake demo into "defending the rights of entertainers to share their works-in-progress".

Not only does it undermine the already disputed legitimacy of promotional events and media previews, it makes it a helluva lot harder for the naive few that showcase their actual work-in-progress, rather than an expensive separately developed demo.

 

[Smeatza]

Perhaps Bioware will shut the fuck up next time they're considering boasting about loads of features that will never make it into the game.

 

[mrseriousguy]

I bet you that after this your going to get legal disclaimers in your face the next time you buy a game from Sega or Gearbox stating you can't sue if you play this game.

Now if it was a Class action suit it would probably have better legs in court. In this day and age individual Consumer rights mean nothing, groups get attention but take years even decades to resolve.

 

[Chris Tian]

We should probably just start treating trailers, demos and promises of devs like the axe advertisments. I mean nobody actually expects hundrets of models chasing him after he uses that stuff.

 

[knight steel]

Work in progress implies that the content is going to get better as you are working on it and that the demo is apart of the game thus why it's called work in progress. However in regards to the demo both of these do not apply as the game was much worse than the demo and perhaps most unforgivable the demo was ordered to be made seperate outside of the actual game and was allowed to take measures that would/could not be applied to the actual game as such it is false advertisement and deserving of punishment.

 

[latiasracer]

Bloody typical, Somebody finally gets hold of the homeworld rights and promises to actually DO something with them, aaaaaaaaaaaaand They get in trouble...

:<

Bah.

 

[murdeoc]

it's nice to see that there are ppl willing to take (legal) action after a caimpagn as misleading as that of sega and gearbox'.
and thoric got it right in his first sentence!

 

[Something Amyss]

I think it takes a special kind of asshole to spin misleading journalists and gamers with a fake demo into "defending the rights of entertainers to share their works-in-progress".

Considering the other crap Gearbox is accused of, I suspect there are many special kinds of asshole there.

Now if it was a Class action suit it would probably have better legs in court. In this day and age individual Consumer rights mean nothing, groups get attention but take years even decades to resolve.

According to the Escapist's own article on this, it is a class action.

We should probably just start treating trailers, demos and promises of devs like the axe advertisments. I mean nobody actually expects hundrets of models chasing him after he uses that stuff.

Then again, they claimed this to be a "vertical slice of the game." Nobody claims "Axe: women will want to rape you."

Work in progress implies that the content is going to get better as you are working on it and that the demo is apart of the game thus why it's called work in progress. However in regards to the demo both of these do not apply as the game was much worse than the demo and perhaps most unforgivable the demo was ordered to be made seperate outside of the actual game and was allowed to take measures that would/could not be applied to the actual game as such it is false advertisement and deserving of punishment.

Yeah, the demo wasn't a work in progress in any sense of the word.

...Well, I suppose the pro wrestling version of "work" might apply.

Yegads...Gaming has gone to the carnies....

 

[ghostman725]

The whole game stinks of being rushed. Someone has to be held accountable for the mishandling of development but I don't think the lawsuit will get anywhere as every demo or trailer for new games now state does not represent actual gameplay. Which has put me off pre-ordering any game. It seems that a lot more money goes into marketing now than in the past which hinders development.

But it shouldn't just be Sega and Gearbox that should shoulder the blame. Every single person or company that had a role in it should take equal flak. What this will be is a massive lesson to every publisher and development company. Watch what the hell you are doing with the budget.

In fact an internal investigate or even audit review should be happening over this project as something doesn't add up. For a game that handles and looks worse than most PS One games which with much better game engines in the modern age (even 8 years ago) the expectation does stack.

 

[Mudkipith]

If you can sue someone for this, Peter Molyneux and Bethesda owe me a LOT of money.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

If you can sue someone for this, Peter Molyneux and Bethesda owe me a LOT of money.

There's a fairly definite distinction between bloviating in the media about features that never end up going live, and showing a press demo that is utterly misleading and not representative of your product. The latter smacks of deliberate fraud.

 

[SweetLiquidSnake]

Anyone who dislikes a game so much that they sue for it needs a better hobby and a better use of their money. Maybe buying a hooker would have been more productive for him, at least he would'd gotten laid.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Does this mean Microsoft and Bungie can be sued for this?


I still think this looks better than the New Mombasa level we got in the final version.

In all honesty, I'm a bit conflicted. On the one hand, I can see why people got upset over this, what with the "actual gameplay demo" turning out to be very different from the actual game. It does seem to smack of false advertizing. On the other hand, I think some consumers need to show more restraint before charging in with preorders and day 1 purchases. Never forget that demos like these are essentially glorified commercials, and commercials can be extremely misleading sometimes. Be savvy, wait a few days and do your research before committing to purchasing the game.

To use Halo 2 as an example again, I got the game day 1 as a teenager, fully expecting to get exactly what I was shown and told in the demos and previews. Turns out the final product was very different, leaving me somewhat miffed about the whole thing (to be fair, it still turned out to be a good game once I got past that initial disappointment). Instead of throwing a hissy fit and demanding lawsuits however, I learned from my mistake of blindly trusting marketing and moved on. I learned a valuable life lesson from Halo 2: never get swept away by the hype machine.

 

[Korten12]

Perhaps Bioware will shut the fuck up next time they're considering boasting about loads of features that will never make it into the game.

Wait, what? This is Gearbox and Sega, not Bioware... Geez...

 

[Windcaler]

Sega nad Gearbox respond with clear legalese. Im no lawyer but I think the case does have some merit. A demo by definition is a demonstration of what a product can and can not do. If someone turns around and says "well demo's arent representative of the final product" then they dont know what the word demonstration means. Demo's were shown to critics, at trade shows, and used in advertising making the game look amazing when its far from that.

IMO the real issue here is not that its actually false advertising but that a lawsuits being filed at all. Its a message to companies like gearbox as well as future companies that might pull this kind of thing. That message says: This kind of stuff is not acceptable.

Perhaps this will get companies to get their stuff together and actually represent games as they are

 

[TheSteeleStrap]

"Is it the buyer's fault for buying a game based on a demo"? Uuuhh no... That's the PURPOSE of the demo...

 

[Atmos Duality]

I'm pretty sure they're going to hide behind subjectivity on this one or "Demo does not represent final product" etc etc.
Well, I'm just going to wait and see how this turns out.