10 replies to this topic

[Mr_Eggy]

Source: Polygon, Gamasutra

Quote

Electronic Arts is the target of a class-action lawsuit that charges the company violated U.S. securities laws by allegedly misleading stockholders as to the quality of Battlefield 4 and the publisher's PlayStation 4 titles.

Quote

The complaint alleges that senior EA executives knew -- and did not disclose to the public or public shareholders -- that Battlefield 4 was a buggy, incomplete mess that would not be able to function as advertised if it was released on schedule.

Wowzers, I thought the bugs are launch were bad... but not lawsuit bad.

What's your thoughts on this?

[Outlaw]

Would be good for EA to get sued so they can stop releasing unfinished games. Although I don't think the lawsuit will pass - like you said the game has its bugs and far from finished but its not lawsuit bad.

Its not like the lawyers are doing this for us gamers, they couldn't care less, they're in it for themselves.

[straussy240]

If I was EA I would be more worried about negative media attention and the PR mess they have accumulated over the years. For a company that makes so many good games and must make a fair bit of $$$ you think they would address this and try to win over the public

[GraphicX]

was only last week i said it has to be false advertising for promoting bf4 as they did.

there's far too much suing that goes on, but there needs to be a point where we as consumers are protected from products that fail to perform as advertised.

[Mr_Eggy]

Yeah, I get that the lawyers and shareholders are doing it solely for their gain - it's just the wording of the whole case seems to try and appeal to gamers in some regards. But the point about EA's CEO selling a large amount of shares before BF4's release seems a little sus.

Straussy, I don't know if EA could do anything to stop being a PR mess. Hell, they're doing a game jam right now and I'm sure they messed that up in some way.

I think we might be getting somewhere with the whole protection thing, Origin has it's "Great Game Guarantee" - although that only applies to game bought through Origin. And GOG has it's 30-day policy to money-back if a game has technical issues. It's interesting as Steam isn't really the one leading the pack for once.

Edited by CurseOfThePlungerThieves, 19 December 2013 - 12:30 AM.

[straussy240]

I wouldn't be so sure about being unable to address their problems

Hell look at Steam/Valve. Atm they're one of the most loved game publishers out there, but it wasn't always the case. Back in the day all I wanted to play was CS 1.6 and steam pissed me off so ...maybe 5 - 10 years ago now

--> http://kotaku.com/we...steam-799667147

http://www.reddit.co...ll_hated_steam/

[Mr_Eggy]

Yeah, I suppose you're right - I remember trying to install Half-Life 2 from the 5 (!!) CDs it came on and the first 3 tries Steam failed to install so I had to start over and over. But EA is a publicly listed company, so I feel that's why they'll have a hard time recovering as they have to focus on keeping shareholders happy.

[Jykel]

Tricky business and probably relies on what the EA board promised its shareholders in terms of game and premium sales, and specific targets and dates.

A lot of die hard BF fans/vets did not buy premium off the bat, and that kills the bottom line, esp in AU/NZ where for some premium costs more than the game itself.   Given EA/Dics have had to delay further DLC to address issues affects the target dates they have promised.

So EA do have an issue with shareholder mgt and expectations, but i suspect the case will never see the lights of a court room. If shareholders were aware of the potential risks, and EA still met target sales projections, just later than expected, not much the shareholders can do except wait.

If the launch was catastrophic, games and premium sales recalled and refunded, then it would be on like Donkey Kong

[Mr_Eggy]

I do give EA/DICE credit for publicly stating they're working on patches rather than DLC, but as this lawsuit shows it doesn't look great in the eyes of shareholders.

I do hope the case goes to court because we might see if they knew the launch would be sub-par and some exact figures about the game, but that's assuming it doesn't all take place behind closed doors. I don't wish for EA to get punished though, bad game launches are nothing new to the industry and there's a good chance they weren't able to tell it would be that bad.

[Axe99]

I know I've been pretty critical of BF4's state at launch (and even now it's hardly setting standards for stability or even available features) but sueing is deffo well and truly over the top.  Too much impatience these days.

[Jykel]

Axe99, on 19 December 2013 - 01:55 AM, said:

Too much impatience these days.

lol GTA Online