Lawsuit filed against Gearbox and Sega over Aliens: Colonial Marines disappointment
In space no-one can hear you scream. But they probably can hear you in the courtroom. Developers Gearbox and publishers SEGA are being sued over Aliens: Colonial Marines by plaintiff Damion Perrine, who 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 game was launched with high expectations back in February following years of delays, but proved a great disappointment. Features shown in trailers were cut, level and narrative design was boring, graphics were poor and bugs bigger than the game’s xenomorph foes were littered throughout.
Perrine’s row comes from the misleading nature of promotional materials advertised as “actual gameplay” ahead of release, yet showcased “graphical fidelity, AI behavior and even entire levels not featured in the game.”
“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.”
The class action lawsuit also uses a tweet from Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford as evidence, acknowledging the difference between the original demo and final product, stating that its “understood and fair and we are looking at that. Lots of info to parse, lots of stake holders to respect.”
SEGA have already agreed to add a disclaimer to trailers stating that they are not representative of the final game, while a planned Wii U version has also been cancelled.
Click here to check out our Colonial Marines review.
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REVIEW: Aliens: Colonial Marines (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
