14 DAY TRIAL // Developer Gearbox Software and publisher Sega were accused of misrepresenting the Aliens: Colonial Marines video game to unwitting customers, and so the two companies were hit with a class-action lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleged that the two falsely advertised the game, as its quite impressive gameplay demo, reveled at E3, didn't resemble the final retail release.
The two companies denied that the lawsuit had any merit, attempting to defend the right of developers to show work-in-progress footage without the fear of "frivolous litigation."
The release of Alines: Colonial Marines was a huge PR hit for the companies, as nobody liked the game and it was universally panned by both critics and players, most of all for misrepresenting what the game was actually about and delivering a sub-par final product, but Gearbox and Sega decided to fight the lawsuit anyway.
Now it seems that Gearbox is attempting to distance itself from the matter, as the company has filed a motion stating why the accusations are baseless and why the developer should be removed from the lawsuit.
"During the development process, Gearbox supplemented Sega's development budget with its own money to help Sega finish its game; Gearbox's contributions to A:CM totaled millions, none of which was ever repaid. Gearbox never received money from Sega's A:CM purchasers, nor has Gearbox received a single royalty from any such sales by Sega," wrote Gearbox Vice President of marketing Steve Gibson in the motion filed 30th July 2014.
The developer claimed to have sunk millions into the making of Aliens: Colonial Marines, and that sales of the game were so small that the only money it made was from the "milestone payments" that fund such projects during development.
"Those milestone payments were pre-set before any games were sold and the milestone payments to Gearbox were not tied to the number of units of the game that Sega ultimately sold," Gibson stated.
Furthermore, Gearbox pointed to the fact that Aliens: Colonial Marines was a contract project led by Sega, and that the developer had no responsibility in how the game turned out and was marketed.
Gibson said that Sega was satisfied with how the project worked as it was being developed, stating that it approved each and every milestone submission from Gearbox.
"Gearbox eventually completed and delivered the software in accordance with Sega's specifications, which Sega vetted, approved and accepted," Gibson explained.
Further defending Gearbox, Gibson added that the footage showed at E3 was running on the same engine as the final version of the game did, and that the entire idea of a class action lawsuit was a bit far-fetched, because it was impossible to know how many users actually saw the press demos that allegedly led to the game's misleading representation and sales.