The Misleading Aliens: Colonial Marines Demos Will Cost Sega $1.25m

Sega have filed a settlement in the class action suit brought against them and Gearbox Software in which the company will pay out $1.25M for misleading consumers with demos and videos that bore little resemblance to the finished Aliens: Colonial Marines game.

If the court approves the settlement Sega will not be liable for any further litigation and John Locke, the instigator of the case, will pocket $2,500.

Over $500,000 will be paid to cover costs the rest of the money will be placed in a fund. Any customers in the States who purchased the game will be able to fill in a form and get a slice of the cash, how much depends on how many people apply but it will not exceed the original price of the game.

Sega have always denied any wrong doing, as have Gearbox, and the settlement is not an admission of guilt.

The settlement only covers Sega’s involvement, Gearbox have insisted they never should have been included in the suit in the first place and the case against them will continue.

One of the original plaintiffs, Roger Damion Perrine, has been removed from the case as he is currently in jail awaiting trial charged with simple assault and terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another.

Despite all the controversy the game has never left the top 40 since it was released and is currently at number 35 in the charts.

It’s an expensive lesson for Sega but there is no denying the disparity between the original demos and the final product.

Source: Polygon

7 Comments

  1. Offering to pay $1.25M sounds like an admission of guilt to me. Good to see real action is being taken against this bunch of fraudsters, this sort of misleading really needs to stop and hopefully Gearbox are made to pay up as well.

  2. If the money does find its way to the people who were misled then that is justice done really.
    There is no denying that the demo was total BS and it’s good to see them being forced to face up to that. Hopefully it will stop anyone pulling that again in future.

  3. The best thing about this game was the box art. That was cool.

    I’d love to know what the total sales are for it, especially as its still “limited edition” everywhere.

  4. Best way to burn gearbox is just not to buy their trash anymore. I loved borderlands 1 and 2 but after this and with so many other games out there they can go broke for all I care. New borderlands presequal would be great, but not for me. Going to play something else just in case it ends up stinking like this did.
    Randy Pitchford = lying douchebag

    • But that makes no sense – You say you love Borderlands, but are prepared to let that die a death because you are seemingly affected by a game that clearly had a rocky development & then reviewed terribly (seemingly as a result).

      A better idea would probably be to buy things like borderlands that come from a solid heritage (& you have previous experience of) & then pass on stuff that seems iffy or doesn’t review well, no?

  5. I’m struggling to think of any other recent high profile game releases which have looked amazing in pre-release trailers and then had very rough graphical downgrades at launch…

  6. I think the only reason it’s still in the charts is because you can pick it up most places (new) for a fiver or less. If it was around the £20 mark it would have vanished a long time ago. It’s just too tempting at £5. Even if it’s the worst game ever made, it’s only a fiver.

Comments are now closed for this post.