In the latest update on the Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit, Gearbox Studios has been taken out of the case. Since the game’s release in 2013, multiple comparisons on the differences had been made between the finished product and alleged “in-game footage” that Gearbox Studios co-founder Randy Pitchford described as “actual gameplay.” Once a class-action lawsuit was filed against Gearbox Studios, Sega and Gearbox have been shifting the blame between each other.
Much of the reason why the case has been in question was due to how the class-action lawsuit was defining certain terms. The original settlement would have been $1.25 million to those who had been misled by the trailers at E3, to be payed out by Sega. However, there is no way to tell out of those that purchased Aliens: Colonial Marines which customers were deceived by the trailers and which ones weren’t. As well, when Gearbox was asked to foot half the bill, Gearbox through out the case, stating that it acted as a contractor to Sega, and that Sega always had the last word on how Aliens was marketed to the public.
With this mess of a court case that has been transpiring for more than two years, documentation leaked from the case has revealed interesting pieces on both game development and Sega’s marketing strategies. As well, the case has dropped its class-action title, meaning that any monetary gains from the trial are placed squarely on the original people that presented the lawsuit. With Gearbox Studios out of the case, it will be interesting to see how Sega takes this case. Do you think that Sega should be the only one blamed for Aliens’s failure? Or do you think Gearbox Studios has some owning up to do? Sound off in the comments!
Source: Polygon