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SEGA & Gearbox Software Sued Over A:CM

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Sega and Gearbox Software have been reportedly sued by a consumer over claims of false advertising in regards to Aliens: Colonial Marines, says Polygon. The lawsuit, filed yesterday by law firm Edelson LLC on behalf of Damion Perrine, claims 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.” Read more here.

In related news, Steam appears to be issuing full refunds to consumers who have filled a complaint with Washington State Attorney. Find more here.

“Valve Corporation has agreed to credit your full purchase price of $49.99 paid for the software product Aliens: Colonial Marines on 2/5/2013. This does not necessarily reflect on the validity of your claim, nor does it preclude you from, or, assist you in seeking private legal remedies. (…) We will retain a copy of your complaint as part of our public record of the firm’s business practices.”


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Comments: 57
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  2. ikarop
    Posted
    http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/03/gearbox-sega-sued-over-aliens-colonial-marines

    QuoteUpdate: Gearbox has now commented on the lawsuit, providing the following statement to IGN:

    "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."

    Additionally, SEGA provided its own statement earlier today:

    "SEGA cannot comment on specifics of ongoing litigation, but we are confident that the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend it vigorously."
    Reply
  3. ikarop
    Posted
    Quote from: Gate on May 03, 2013, 05:02:24 AM
    The Demo was confirmed not to be made with the game at all, don't you folks remember?
    Indeed. I recall it being mentioned in some interviews, etc... And as I've said before, I remember mentioning it too back in 2011.

    This is an excerpt from AvPG's interview with GBX in 2012: http://www.avpgalaxy.net/games/aliens-colonial-marines-sega/interview-gearbox-software/

    Quote from: Gearbox SoftwareWhat's been shown of the campaign thus far represents a very small part of the overall game. With what we showed at E3 2011, the intent was to highlight as many different aspects of the campaign as possible within the allotted time: atmosphere and tension, gameplay, co-op, sentry guns, etc.

    While that demonstration was comprised of things that are in the game, the campaign is a bit more nuanced in terms of pacing.
    Problem is that it was confusing for people because it was purposely omitted from all official promotional material at the time:

    Quote from: Randy PitchfordThis is really kind of a big moment for us because, you know, we haven't shown the game in action before. And, so you're gonna see what the game actually looks like. Not just screenshots, but the actual gameplay. (...) And that is a quick taste of Aliens: Colonial Marines. It's a section of act 2 of the game.
    Reply
  6. demonbane
    Posted
    Quote from: ShadowPred on May 02, 2013, 06:54:10 PM
    Bungie pretty much did the same thing for Halo 2, when they released the gameplay footage at E3, but then again that was early  footage, and something they scrapped altogether because they couldn't get it right. The rest of the game had no such problems whatsoever, unlike A:CM that was problematic to everything from the quality of graphics, to the AI that was dumbed down to shit compared to the gameplay walkthrough they showed. Everything was dumbed down, and what people saw was a glimpse of what could have been, but was never meant to be.
    The difference is that after E3 demo, Bungie actually showed multiplayer footage in Zanzibar map. The footage showed actual gameplay in final product. Therefore, people knew what to expect. People knew what changes were made. And they never said it was 100% in game footage.
    A:CM kept relying on early E3 demo without showing final build before the release. Huge difference.
    Reply
  7. Bio Mech Hunter
    Posted
    Quote from: RidgeTop on May 02, 2013, 04:44:12 PM
    http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/05/01/the-aliens-colonial-marines-class-action-lawsuit-is-wrong.aspx

    Here's an interesting gameinformer opinion piece about this. I do think the lawsuit is without merit, even though it's clear customers were mislead. Are you going to sue a film studio after watching a bad movie that had a good trailer?
    This article is complete bullshit. Subjectivity and frivolousness my ass. The extreme of this situation is so harsh, it sets a new benchmark.

    The problem isn't just about A:CM's horrid quality, either. It's also the absolutely ridiculous difference in quality between all the screenshots and footage we've been shown prior to A:CM's release and the final product. Not to mention everything that's been stated by GBX in interviews and press conferences leading all the way up to the game's launch. Then it continued with how it was marketed. The final "nail in the coffin" is the shady shit we've learned GBX did that caused the game's quality to suffer so drastically.

    No, they need to be held accountable, and I can't seen anything but good coming out of this situation because (at the very least) it sends the message to all game companies that this sort of thing is WRONG and we (as their consumers) won't tolerate it.

    You don't have to be a Cambridge grad to know something is complete crap, either. Game companies need to mean what they say, and make good on their word. If they can't, then they shouldn't try to cover it up.
    Reply
  9. Lie
    Posted
    Quote from: ShadowPred on May 02, 2013, 06:54:10 PM
    Bungie pretty much did the same thing for Halo 2, when they released the gameplay footage at E3, but then again that was early  footage, and something they scrapped altogether because they couldn't get it right. The rest of the game had no such problems whatsoever, unlike A:CM that was problematic to everything from the quality of graphics, to the AI that was dumbed down to shit compared to the gameplay walkthrough they showed. Everything was dumbed down, and what people saw was a glimpse of what could have been, but was never meant to be.

    That's exactly the point, I don't what changes they made in Halo 2 but they went too far with A:CM.
    Reply
  10. Bio Mech Hunter
    Posted
    Quote from: ShadowPred on May 02, 2013, 06:54:10 PM
    Bungie pretty much did the same thing for Halo 2, when they released the gameplay footage at E3, but then again that was early  footage, and something they scrapped altogether because they couldn't get it right. The rest of the game had no such problems whatsoever, unlike A:CM that was problematic to everything from the quality of graphics, to the AI that was dumbed down to shit compared to the gameplay walkthrough they showed. Everything was dumbed down, and what people saw was a glimpse of what could have been, but was never meant to be.
    You nailed it.
    Reply
  11. Samus007
    Posted
    Quote from: ShadowPred on May 02, 2013, 06:54:10 PM
    Bungie pretty much did the same thing for Halo 2, when they released the gameplay footage at E3, but then again that was early  footage, and something they scrapped altogether because they couldn't get it right. The rest of the game had no such problems whatsoever, unlike A:CM that was problematic to everything from the quality of graphics, to the AI that was dumbed down to shit compared to the gameplay walkthrough they showed. Everything was dumbed down, and what people saw was a glimpse of what could have been, but was never meant to be.

    This.
    Reply
  12. ShadowPred
    Posted
    Bungie pretty much did the same thing for Halo 2, when they released the gameplay footage at E3, but then again that was early  footage, and something they scrapped altogether because they couldn't get it right. The rest of the game had no such problems whatsoever, unlike A:CM that was problematic to everything from the quality of graphics, to the AI that was dumbed down to shit compared to the gameplay walkthrough they showed. Everything was dumbed down, and what people saw was a glimpse of what could have been, but was never meant to be.
    Reply
  13. Nightlord
    Posted
    Quote from: RidgeTop on May 02, 2013, 06:31:44 PM
    All that stuff in the demo was EARLY footage, shown more than two years in advance of release. Very often early demos do not reflect the final product. The most famous instance of this was the Halo 2 demo, which was highly scripted and featured a segment that was drastically different in the final release. This is simply the nature of game development. If you look at almost all of the videos and trailers in the months leading up to release, they were made using the final version of the game. As the gameinformer article illustrates, the best way to tell if a game is worth a purchase or not is by reading the reviews to get a general consensus of the game. Naturally the publisher and the developer are going to try to advertise it by showing it looking its best. The developers do not owe gamers a product that meets their satisfaction.

    Also, there are plenty of film trailers that show scenes or elements that don't end up in the final film. Just look at the Predators trailer.
    Yes and they shouldn't be releasing trailers of a game that will not be released, if Bungie were to do that Halo 2 demo nowdays I'd expect the same to happen to them.

    As for deleted scenes with movies, that stuff usually ends up on the home version, at the very least it exists somewhere or was cut for a reason. These game demos are being made for the sole purpose of swindling people through hype and then never appear anywhere in the game.
    Reply
  14. RidgeTop
    Posted
    You're right on that, they should have gone for something great, and they failed. But they suffer for it in the marketplace with poor game sales. I'm just saying, it's very common for early press showings, trailers, demos, etc. to look better, worse, or close to the final product. And developers are always going to praise their own game as much as they can in interviews, even if it's all bullshit. This is why we have game reviews. Suing for disappointment, even if something initially looked promising but ended up lacking, just seems pointless.
    Reply
  15. ShadowPred
    Posted
    Quote from: RidgeTop on May 02, 2013, 06:31:44 PM
    All that stuff in the demo was EARLY footage, shown more than two years in advance of release. Very often early demos do not reflect the final product. This is simply the nature of game development. If you look at almost all of the videos and trailers in the months leading up to release, they were made using the final version of the game. As the gameinformer article illustrates, the best way to tell if a game is worth a purchase or not is by reading the reviews to get a general consensus of the game. Naturally the publisher and the developer is going to try to advertise it by showing it looking its best. The developers do not owe gamers a product that meets their satisfaction.


    All that early footage ended up looking MILES better in ever regard. The final product was basically a game that looked like it was still in early development. It's as if you paid to see a movie, but ended up getting the version with the green screens still in the frame, terrible audio, and text saying "special effect of shield, here."

    And the bullshit about the developers not having to make the game to our satisfaction is horseshit. They cannot, and should not stoop the such low levels to release a piece of shit. No one here ever expects a shitty game, and the developers damn well should not have aspired to make one in the first place. They know better than that, and still decided to release a crap product. The standard should always be to do the best, and clearly Gearbox and Sega wanted nothing to do with that mentality.


    EDIT

    And that bit about the Predators trailer is not the same damn thing. The movie we got was the same as advertised, it wasn't horribly butchered to death. A:CM was ripped apart, the entire hype train Gearbox set up was calling this basically the be all, end all of everything in the Alien Franchise.

    MAKE ALIEN 3 BETTER

    TRUE SEQUEL

    CO-OP IS THE SHIT

    AN AMAZING STORY UNLIKE ANYTHING BEFORE

    etc., etc.


    "Bullshit, all of it."
    Reply
  16. RidgeTop
    Posted
    All that stuff in the demo was EARLY footage, shown more than two years in advance of release. Very often early demos do not reflect the final product. The most famous instance of this was the Halo 2 demo, which was highly scripted and featured a segment that was drastically different in the final release. This is simply the nature of game development. If you look at almost all of the videos and trailers in the months leading up to release, they were made using the final version of the game. As the gameinformer article illustrates, the best way to tell if a game is worth a purchase or not is by reading the reviews to get a general consensus of the game. Naturally the publisher and the developer are going to try to advertise it by showing it looking its best. The developers do not owe gamers a product that meets their satisfaction.

    Also, there are plenty of film trailers that show scenes or elements that don't end up in the final film. Just look at the Predators trailer.
    Reply
  17. Nightlord
    Posted
    Quote from: RidgeTop on May 02, 2013, 04:44:12 PM
    http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/05/01/the-aliens-colonial-marines-class-action-lawsuit-is-wrong.aspx

    Here's an interesting gameinformer opinion piece about this. I do think the lawsuit is without merit, even though it's clear customers were mislead. Are you going to sue a film studio after watching a bad movie that had a good trailer?
    He's wrong, simple as.

    Only good can come out of this, it'll stop devs and publishers from advertising games years in advance when the finished product is nothing alike, maybe they'll also stop devoting so much damn money to marketing and actually work on their game.

    It's not like we get anything out of this lawsuit but screw it they can go for it and try to have something done about all the fake advertising in the industry.
    Reply
  18. ShadowPred
    Posted
    Quote from: RidgeTop on May 02, 2013, 04:44:12 PM
    http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/05/01/the-aliens-colonial-marines-class-action-lawsuit-is-wrong.aspx

    Here's an interesting gameinformer opinion piece about this. I do think the lawsuit is without merit, even though it's clear customers were mislead. Are you going to sue a film studio after watching a bad movie that had a good trailer?


    That's not the same argument, if this is the Game Informer article in a nutshell, then it's a waste of the author's time to have even written it.
    Reply
  21. Samus007
    Posted
    Personally, for me, I hope to one day soon read a headline on IGN etc that says, "Gearbox closing up shop, going out of business". I despise Randy Pitchford and all the crap lies that came out of that companies mouth about this game. Seeing that headline would make me think to myself, "haha".
    Reply
  22. Valaquen
    Posted
    Quote from: RidgeTop on May 02, 2013, 04:44:12 PM
    http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/05/01/the-aliens-colonial-marines-class-action-lawsuit-is-wrong.aspx

    Here's an interesting gameinformer opinion piece about this. I do think the lawsuit is without merit, even though it's clear customers were mislead. Are you going to sue a film studio after watching a bad movie that had a good trailer?
    Is that the argument, though? It relies on subjectivity ("I didn't like the movie, despite the hype"), whereas the GBX case doesn't ("there's nothing indicative of the advertised product in the actual product"). I thought the debacle concerned advertising a game (content) that was not present in the final product, and probably never intended to be. The allegation is that GBX knew their product was something it was not and advertised it that way. When I think of the same sort of thing happening in movies (like Drive or The Grey's action-orientated trailers) the actual content of the trailers was still in the movie, albeit in different context. That's not the case with A:CM.
    Reply
  24. PRJ_since1990
    Posted
    I'm glad this has happened. Just because the majority of people rush to go buy the newest CoD game (when they're all the same game in essence) doesn't mean GBX can do the same with a well-respected franchise like Alien, cheap out the fans with hype alone and think that all Of us are going to put up with it. I still play it but my disappointment in the story and overall features has not subsided.
    Reply
  29. demonbane
    Posted
    Quote from: Local Trouble on May 01, 2013, 08:10:53 PM
    This could seriously jeopardize development on Borderlands 3, not to mention any potential new Homeworld games since they just acquired that IP from THQ's sell-off.

    Besides, Randy seems like a swell guy.
    Who gives shit about Borderland 3? Oh right damn sheep. Borderland is not something most people should crave. I don't know why people try to put it in league of Bioshock, Halo, etc. Yeah. I played Borderland 1. It was meh to fun. Forgettable music, characters, etc.
    And Borderland was built upon sacrifice of Alien: CM. You would be a damn fool to support such scam franchise.

    If we let this case go away, then other companies along with Gearbox will repeat the same crime in the future.
    It's people like you who is not helping gaming industry at all. We need to set precedent so other companies won't dare to do the same. Say other companies also did all you want. It doesn't change the fact that this case is the most glaring case at least in this year so far.
    Reply
  30. Bio Mech Hunter
    Posted
    I can't help but think back on all the bullshit Randy and the rest of GBX kept feeding us about A:CM's quality, the tech they're implementing, how it's going to blow gamers away, how they're such huge fans of the franchise and how excited they are to be working on this dream project.

    Actions speak louder than words, though. Now that we've been finding out what really happened with the game's development, how can anyone not think Randy and the rest of GBX are like fork-tonged salesmen?

    This kind of BS has to stop NOW. With all game companies. Game developers (and publishers) need to start making good on their word.
    Reply
  31. Nutlink
    Posted
    Quote from: Local Trouble on May 01, 2013, 08:04:37 PM
    I think you people should just let Randy and Gearbox get a pass on this whole thing.  What do you say?
    Considering they got a pass for Brothers in Arms Hells Highway and it's faults, for cutting as much of the stuff out of Borderlands 2 that they promised, and for Randy making the comments he did when they ported Halo to the PC a decade ago....nah.  It's a pointless lawsuit, but I want this turd to stay in the spotlight as long as possible to make an example of out it.
    Reply
  33. urvile
    Posted
    On the one hand, it's not like CM was the first game to lie about what was going to be in the final product. But I'm certainly not going to feel sorry for them. I find the whole thing a bit amusing

    While we're at it, could I sue over Epic Mickey, Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded, Silent Hill HD Collection, Shadow Of the Damned, and every other crappy game I ended up wasting money on?

    Oh, that f**king HD collection. If anyone deserved to be sued, it was Konami and Tomm Hulett for that broken POS
    Reply
  34. Local Trouble
    Posted
    This could seriously jeopardize development on Borderlands 3, not to mention any potential new Homeworld games since they just acquired that IP from THQ's sell-off.

    Besides, Randy seems like a swell guy.
    Reply
  38. Bio Mech Hunter
    Posted
    Well, this took longer than I expected, but it's finally happened. Hopefully some justice will be served. What GBX did was complete bullshit. We were the ones who paid for it. They need to pay for it.

    One thing is clear, A:CM will never be the game we wanted. Or even the game they said it would be. We aren't going to get any true justice because of this.

    Quote from: Vertigo on May 01, 2013, 08:28:16 AM
    But getting back on topic, I hope the Colonial Marines situation doesn't bite Sega too badly. They have a number of other major properties under their banner which could suffer underfunding, rushing, lay-offs, lack of post-release support, redesigning or even abandonment if the corporate coffers start drying up. Rome Total War 2, just for one example, is a hugely ambitious title in a flagship series, and needs 100% commitment to live up to that promise.
    Yeah, I'm a bit concerned about that, too.
    Reply
  43. Lie
    Posted
    Quote from: szkoki on May 01, 2013, 11:26:56 AM
    a bored billionare fan sued them...i guess, because this process will cost him more than the prize of the game what he could get back

    btw this isnt mean that we get the game we promised i dunno why are u so happy about it....and top of it if we would got that graphics like in the demos...the STORY, THE ACTING AND AI STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! and no lawsuit can do anything about that, i dont understand how many people wank over the graphics...but do what u want

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbB_HVcXpPk#ws

    Finally man, I love this game to hell and back but FINALLY they get what they deserve for all their f**king lies! I just hope that it impacts future Aliens game in a positive way... The most positive way being an actual future for Aliens game. :-\
    Reply
  44. szkoki
    Posted
    a bored billionare fan sued them...i guess, because this process will cost him more than the prize of the game what he could get back

    btw this isnt mean that we get the game we promised i dunno why are u so happy about it....and top of it if we would got that graphics like in the demos...the STORY, THE ACTING AND AI STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!! and no lawsuit can do anything about that, i dont understand how many people wank over the graphics...but do what u want
    Reply
  46. Vertigo
    Posted
    Quote from: ShadowPred on May 01, 2013, 03:01:44 AM
    Quote from: demonbane on May 01, 2013, 02:32:59 AM
    Yeah. Company like THQ went bankrupt for making one mistake. It shouldn't be exception for Gearbox.


    THQ did plenty wrong, it wasn't just one single thing that did them in.

    Exactly, it was the culmination of a number of failures. uDraw Wii accessory, AAA CoD rival Homefront, unfinished development of an MMO, and I think one other high-cost/risk venture that I'm forgetting. It was insane that they attempted all of these at once, the failure of any one of them would have had a major impact on the company.

    But getting back on topic, I hope the Colonial Marines situation doesn't bite Sega too badly. They have a number of other major properties under their banner which could suffer underfunding, rushing, lay-offs, lack of post-release support, redesigning or even abandonment if the corporate coffers start drying up. Rome Total War 2, just for one example, is a hugely ambitious title in a flagship series, and needs 100% commitment to live up to that promise.
    Reply
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