You may remember the class action lawsuit against Gearbox and Sega that was filed in April 2013 by Roger Damion Perrine and John Locke stating both companies falsely advertised Aliens Colonial Marines at various tradeshows. When the game was released in February 2013, critical reception was extremely negative and the graphics were extremely poor compared to how it looked at tradeshows. There were all sorts of rumours flying about that Gearbox outsourced the game to Timegate Studios, who subsequently filed for bankruptcy in May 2013, and that Gearbox spent the money they received from Sega on developing Borderlands 2.
This week, Gearbox have finally given their side of the story in a motion filed this week to drop the class action lawsuit against them. They state that Sega contracted Gearbox in 2006 to make a game based on Aliens and Sega had approval on “all of the game’s subject matter, content, gameplay mechanics and technical specifications”. With regards to the budget, they have indicated that they actually spent millions of their own money supplementing Sega’s budget and Sega never repaid any of that money back to them. Gearbox stated that the same Unreal game engine was used in demonstrations and the final game. Gearbox goes onto state they never received any bonuses from Sega post-release because Aliens Colonial Marines didn’t sell enough copies.
The motion comes after an agreement was reached between Sega and the plaintiffs at the end of June to settle the lawsuit but Roger Damion Perrine had disappeared. It was revealed that he was in jail in Pennsylvania awaiting trial for three charges including simple assault and terroristic threats. There was a separate filing from Gearbox to have him removed from the class action lawsuit leaving only John Locke.
So what does all this mean? Well, the lawsuit isn’t quite over yet. Basically Gearbox have shifted the blame onto Sega with regards to the lawsuit as they were the publisher and marketer of Aliens Colonial Marines. Gearbox was just the developer. They do paint a very different picture of what they did with game’s budget but they still didn’t explain why they outsourced most of the game to Timegate Studios. We’ve still yet to hear Sega’s version of events though. While the lawsuit is kinda pointless, I do applaud the two guys for standing up for themselves and not letting big companies get away with murder. It always sort of surprised me how Sega haven’t filed their own lawsuit against Gearbox but I guess there is still a lot more to this story left to tell…
I can't imagine that you need a receipt. Who would keep one for that long? There has to be another way.
They couldn't even get the character bios for Hicks right lol.
Depends on how many submit claims. I would think if you have the box to the game, they can trace the sale of it with the barcode? Either way, I don't think you need a receipt to get your refund.
I feel since most sold the game back then the odds of us getting a solid amount are fairly good. I hope I can get 40 or so and use that to buy Alien: Isolation.
No, the E3 trailer for ACM where the marine answers with how many fingers can he see by sticking up his middle finger had more character then the entire story of A:CM
There was more fan service in the character bios than in the entirety of ACM.
True enough. Probably the best Alien game of recent years. Still kind of messed about - narratively - by ACM.
Infestation was good.
Makes you wonder if they get their priorities straight. AvP'10 was pushed out the door rather quick to make up for the ACM delay as I saw it, which makes it all the more shameful ACM was such a bummer.
I have my game and box still, no receipt. Curious as to how I can prove I bought the game.
I expect many to have gotten rid of their games already. I plan on getting nearly a full refund and buying Isolation with it.
Some interesting things I read in the documents: There was a total of 135,000 people who pre-ordered/ordered day one in the United States. If every single one of those people filed a claim, you'd only get around $5. But it also says that claims rarely exceed 7% so if 7% of the 135K filed a claim, you'd get at most $77 refund.
I bought the $100 Collector Edition on day one. I was disappointed with some issues, namely graphics, but I actually liked the game, to a certain extent.
I do feel a bit betrayed by the 'false advertising', and would like some kind of reimbursement.
However, I'm gonna keep my game (especially the sweet statue)!
Sega/Gearbox should have made the DLC FREE to those who bought the game new.
Perhaps, if I get some $$$ from this lawsuit, I'll send some of it back Sega's way by DL'n that campaign DLC.
At the very least, I already Pre-ordered Alien Isolation, so...
Doesnt their contract end this year or next?
Makes me think they're just going to get rid of the license once AI is all done with (think this is their last game on the license?). They've had nothing but trouble with Alien games.
Maybe we're secretly playing the Wii-U build of the game? xD
Since most people traded the game away, I can see myself getting a lot more than a couple bucks.
Thank you, SEGA. Thank you for taking some blame. Now, sue Gearbox.
There's enough legit things to complain about with Gearbox without insinuating rubbish.
Sega should return the favor and sue GBX in turn. It's just too bad they DID fulfill their contractual obligations to the publisher to cover their butts and get the game plus 4 DLC items out the door.
Mind you, Sega should still seek accountability as to where that money went.
$60,000,000 is a Hell of a lot of money considering how the end product turned out.
Not like they own that building. Or even appear to have moved in.
Long bow is long.
I think they got off... rather lightly.
After 6 years and $60,000,000+ from the publisher it still was not enough to get the game looking like AAA instead of a budget title? ...and you claim you put EVEN more of your own money into it to get it releasd?
Something wrong right there.
Oh, by the way... How's that new $60,000,000 office building coming along for you?
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/11/19/gearbox-to-move-hq-to-new-61-million-building-in-frisco-tx/
I hope the plaintiff goes all the way and the court finds GBX liable for misleading the public.
Always making those damn costumes...
Wanting what was advertised. those monsters
Sega opted to use an advanced version of unreal Engine 3 ( considering the neat illumination and water effects in the demo look just like the ones on Arkham Knight), then told Gearbox to get on it
with a surprise twist : Wii U.
Hense the Wii U cancellation and the outrageously low quality engine we got which was probably done on purpose to test on Wii U.
I like to think this as the logic behind the lawsuit since the reports are downright stupid allegations that don't add up to an actual reason.
The reports are beginning to sound like some douch bag costumer is suing over an unintended use of bump maps and solar flares effects in the game.
I can't help but feel a little sorry for Sega. They must have poured millions into ACM and it's ended up costing them much more in the end. And Gearbox still haven't had their comeuppance.
"...and the rest will be used to pay to those eligible customers who purchased the game. Payments to customers who fill out a three question claim form, purchased the game before Feb. 13, 2013 and are approved, will not exceed the amount paid for the game. The amount each customer receives back will be dependent on how many people submit claims. No money will be returned to Sega."
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.gyazo.com%2Feeb3673df89277195c7d38d2ce724264.png&hash=6c46ff0817f210039529f5edb2613109
Whether Alien Isolation is successful or not, my dream game is a compilation of ports/HD remakes of previous Alien/Predator games. Aliens arcade, AVP Arcade, AVP and AVP 2 would definitely be in the compilation. I know Sega can make it happen.
Like I've been saying for a long time, if they didn't suffer any kind of meaningful consequences for their 'Duke Nukem' effort - a game which had arguably more hype surrounding it - they're not going to receive any for this, either.
If a companies product is doing this badly on numerous different projects there is a single common factor.....
GEARBOX
I hope they all feel like pieces of dog $#!7 for all the "were fans of the franchise, fans will love this, this is made for fans"
Bastards
Alien Isolation will be this franchise's last chance to shine IMO. I will wait for the reviews to come out and if it's any good, I'll buy it. I refuse to pre-order anything anymore. I learned the hard way with A:CM and Battlefield 4...