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Sega And Gearbox Respond To Aliens: Colonial Marines Lawsuit

This saga of Aliens: Colonial Marines is not yet over. When it was released earlier this year, the title met a firing squad of critics and consumers. The biggest frustrations though, were focused on the stark discrepancies between footage shown at trade shows and conventions and a final considered inferior by most accounts.

Earlier this week, we shared with you the news of a class action lawsuit focused on the advertising and promotional practiced used. Now, Sega and Gearbox have both responded to requests for comment.

Sega told Game Informer that it, "cannot comment on specifics of ongoing litigation, but we are confident that the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend it vigorously.” Gearbox's response is a more aggressive version of the same sentiment.

"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."

This litigation follows a complaint filed with the UK's Advertising Standards Agency, which resulted in a slap on the wrist and a disclaimer in the note section of the pre-release YouTube videos for the title on Sega Europe's official channel. Whether you agree with the suit or disagree (as our own Matt Helgeson opined this week), if the details of the troubled development are exposed, it will at least be an enlightening exercise.

We've heard from a number of anonymous developers related to the project that the trouble visible on the surface was only a small fraction of the turmoil. Perhaps if this does reach trial, the truth will finally out.

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Comments
  • I have to agree with this. The demo footage may have been misleading, but it was never offered as an official advertisement of the game, just a demo. As has been said before by many people, demos are not indicative of the final version of the product. Most demos expressly say that at the beginning of them. The case doesn't hold water because of that.
  • What if we take Bikini Bottom, and move it someplace else?
  • Maybe they were using reverse psychology. Making the game look good so everyone would buy it but it would really suck so everyone would sell it and go buy borderlands instead, tripling there profits. So I'm sure this lawsuit is a walk in the park.
  • I think Sega and Gearbox will come out on top of this totally frivolous nonsense, and I frankly hope they counter-sue for the money wasted in this endeavor.
  • I'm still pondering on how you're supposed to get sued off of an opinion.
  • Not surprising. Honesty and accountability are generally the last option considered.
  • Who would have thought such a bad game could bring us so much entertainment.
  • By the way, GI, given the attitudes of too many here, I really think you guys should do a full article on "when good companies make bad games" to illustrate that, indeed, sometimes, "s**t happens."

    After all, Delphine may have given us gems like Out of This World and Flashback, but they also delivered Shaq-Fu.

    Nintendo has given us Super Metroid, Mario Galaxy, and A Link to the Past, but they also plopped Wii Music on the masses.

    There is far too much absolutism and ignorance in response to this.
  • This law suit really has no merit. It shouldn't even be a real thing. And when has a demo ever said to be what the final release product is going to be? Most, if not all, demos usually have a disclaimer saying it is a work in progress and may not reflect the final release. Granted, most people don't expect the final release to be worse than the demo, but I guess it does happen.
  • So who is suing them? i don't really understand lawsuits very much... :/ and shouldn't the people who have purchased the game be the ones suing them? whether Sega/ Gearbox or both
  • Well, they didn't really advertise it as saying that those demos would be the final version of the game. I am annoyed by the fact that it does seem deceiving, but it's not like bad games don't exist. If you bought a bad game, it was your fault. You could have waited for the reviews to come in, or rent it.

    If this lawsuit passes, then we might as well start asking for refunds for every bad movie we seen in theaters. Hell, I wouldn't mind getting my $7 back for Gangster Squad, lol.
  • Well Sega, you're not putting new info on Sonic 5 (I hope that's the one game I've been dying for) until you're done with this stupid lawsuit. Are you? On a side note: Why is Gearbox getting away with this s***?!
  • Huh, funny how angry some people can get.
  • Yeah it's dumb. They shouldn't win this. It'll mess it up for everybody and we'll all probably end up having to pay more for games somehow... Let your voice be heard by not buying the horrible game. Write em a letter, tell em they screwed up bad, but don't sue them. That's dumb.
  • This whole business is gonna be messy.
  • Ouch. It'll probably be dismissed. The lawsuit was bogus any way.
  • He's not planning on winning. He's doing this to make a point.

  • Defending this piece of crap makes me lose what little respect for Sega i had left and greatly tarnishes my respect for Gearbox. It's real pathetic.
  • Sh*t happens, and it's the job of the consumer to be informed if the developer/publisher advertises a perfect experience. Suing the developer and publisher over a game that didn't live up to expectations is a waste of time for both the courts, and the developer/publisher teams.

  • If we can find out what really happened behind the close doors of Gearbox software I'd say maybe this thing might be worth it even it still gets thrown out.
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