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An angry gamer has filed a false advertising class action lawsuit against Sega of America and Gearbox Software for allegedly lying about the quality of their new game “Aliens: Colonial Marines” before it was released.
Lead plaintiff Damion Perrine accuses Sega and Gearbox of perpetrating a “bait-and-switch” scheme to induce consumers into buying “Aliens: Colonial Marines” by giving bogus gameplay demonstrations at video game expositions and trade shows leading up to its February 2013 release.
“Each of the ‘actual gameplay’ demonstrations purported to show customers exactly what they would be buying: a cutting edge video game with very specific features and qualities. 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 class action lawsuit states.
These so-called “bogus” demos were well received, and industry reporters hailed the game’s graphics, robust artificial intelligence and exciting gameplay sequences, which bore a close relation to action sequences from the 1986 Aliens movie on which the game is based.
After the game was released, however, it immediately drew criticism for looking nothing like the demo.
“A major selling point of the ‘actual gameplay’ demonstrations were ‘iconic’ gameplay sections where consumers might essentially step into the role of a character from the ‘Aliens’ movie,” the class action lawsuit says. Many of such sections previewed in the ‘actual gameplay’ demonstrations were either gutted beyond recognition or missing entirely from the final product.”
Perrine is seeking damages and punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement of profit and an injunction for a proposed class of everyone in the U.S. who purchased “Aliens: Colonial Marines” on or before February 12, 2013.
UPDATE: Sega has agreed to settle the ‘Aliens’ video game class action lawsuit. Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval of the Sega class action settlement on Aug. 11, 2014.
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UPDATE: Sega has agreed to settle the ‘Aliens’ video game class action lawsuit. Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval of the Sega class action settlement on Aug. 11, 2014.