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'Killzone: Shadow Fall' Class Action Lawsuit Can Proceed, Judge Rules

C

chadskin

Member
United States District Court Judge Edward Chen for the Northern District Court of California has ruled that a class action lawsuit related to Sony Computer Entertainment's Killzone: Shadow Fall will proceed. In August lead plaintiff Douglas Ladore filed a class action lawsuit against SCE claiming that the company lied about the graphics quality of Killzone: Shadow Fall for PS4 in its marketing materials, PR and public statements. He claims in his lawsuit that the game was advertised to have full 1080p high-definition resolution graphics, but it didn't measure up to those claims.

"Gamers quickly noticed and complained that Killzone's multiplayer graphics were blurry to the point of distraction," Ladore's complaint alleges.

Sony tried to get the lawsuit thrown out, arguing that its representations about the graphics weren't false; that Ladore didn't adequately plead reliance on any alleged misrepresentation; that the game doesn't fall under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and that the "economic loss rule" bars Ladore's tort claim for negligent misrepresentation.

But Judge Chen rejected all but one of SCE's argument in its attempt to get the case dismissed. noting that the company's motion was "premised on an unduly narrow reading of plaintiff's complaint."

"The substantial majority of the arguments Sony raises in its motion to dismiss can be rejected for two simple reasons - either Sony's arguments ignore important factual allegations that are well pleaded in Ladore's complaint, or Sony's arguments require this court to construe the complaint in the light most favorable to Sony, rather than Ladore, who is entitled to the benefit of all reasonable inferences at this stage of the proceedings," Chen wrote.

Judge Chen did rule against Ladore's negligent misrepresentation cause of action, noting that the claim "inadequately pleaded under the economic loss rule since Ladore hadn't asserted any noneconomic losses stemming from his purchase of the game." Judge Chen gave Ladore 30 days to file an amended complaint.
Click to expand...

Ruling: http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/12/16/sony MTD ruling.pdf (PDF)

via http://gamepolitics.com/2014/12/17/...-lawsuit-can-proceed-judge-rules#.VJH1qMYdLfY
 
T

The Llama

Member
Interesting to see where this goes. If nothing else, it could be a warning to other devs/publishers to be careful about touting their games at 1080p.

I hate the "1080pr" joke but this would stop any possibility of that actually happening (claiming an anamorphic game is 1080p).
 
BigTnaples

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
This is so fucking ridiculous.


Game is one of the best looking games on the market to this day and the resolution looks great in multi.
 
T

Trace

Banned
It is a 1080p image, since when is that false?

Are we going to complain about TXAA being used in games now because it's not "real" AA?
 
A

Archaix

Drunky McMurder
tkscz said:
1080p is not that important. This deserves no type of lawsuit.
Click to expand...


I didn't follow the game or the lawsuit enough to comment on the merits (and I'm positive that most of the people dismissing it also haven't), but if it was advertised as something that it isn't, that's important and needs to be stopped.
 
E

Exile20

Member
The court system has not been kind to Sony at all.

Didn't they lose another lawsuit about deceitful advertising?
Then Sony pictures is also getting sued for not protecting employee info
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
LOL, I actually just ordered this game. As a Killzone fan, I always thought it looked great and can't wait to finally play it.
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
Can someone explain how a lawsuit like this happens, but how other games like AC and Halo seemingly get away with it? I mean, I'm shocked Ubi/MS aren't sued already for that. I can understand false advertising in Killzone's case, but it seems someone could just as easily do the same for Halo/AC and with greater success.
 
P

Penguin

Member
Curious to see the outcome.

If the fans win, wonder if more companies will be more honest with their footage/promises or will we see more lawsuits follow
 
I

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I wish companies like Ubisoft got class actioned for selling broken products.
 
J

JoeFenix

Member
Absolutely pathetic.

There's technical issues that are worth discussing and even getting angry about but this is ridiculous.
 
K

Krakn3Dfx

Member
"Gamers quickly noticed and complained that Killzone's multiplayer graphics were blurry to the point of distraction," Ladore's complaint alleges.
Click to expand...

Fucking what.

Phoenix_Head_Shake.gif


Someone going to get a lawsuit rolling over the trees in GTA5 on XB1/PS4? I mean, they were moving in the trailer.
 
SerTapTap

SerTapTap

Member
So can I sue any time a game uses lower res for splitscreen? Because tons of games do that. Seems like splitting hairs. The main game outputs in 1080p, and there's no "outputs in vertical interlace but only in multiplayer" tick on the back of the box. Did they make any explicit promises that every single moment of the game is 1080p? I don't see why just this game gets called out.
 
T

The Llama

Member
TimeEffect said:
Can someone explain how a lawsuit like this happens, but how other games like AC and Halo seemingly get away with it? I mean, I'm shocked Ubi/MS aren't sued already for that. I can understand false advertising in Killzone's case, but it seems someone could just as easily do the same for Halo/AC and with greater success.
Click to expand...

What was the false advertising with Halo and AC? The dedicated server thing in Halo? Well they have a good defense to that, in that they're working on it. Not really worth bringing a case for. Otherwise, I don't see what they'd sue about. You can't sue because you bought a broken game. People buy crappy products all the time; just because it's crappy doesn't make it illegal.
 
K

Krusenstern

Banned
TimeEffect said:
Can someone explain how a lawsuit like this happens, but how other games like AC and Halo seemingly get away with it? I mean, I'm shocked Ubi/MS aren't sued already for that. I can understand false advertising in Killzone's case, but it seems someone could just as easily do the same for Halo/AC and with greater success.
Click to expand...

Apparently no one cared enough to sue Ubi.
 
F

Flame Lord

Member
lol, I forgot about this; I don't have a problem with it. They kept acting like the multiplayer was going to be in full 1080p and that ended up not being the case, and I even remember thinking myself when playing it that it looked slightly blurred.
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
They just want money but let's be honest, you know why devs can get away with shit? Because we allow it.

Hopefully stuff like this sets a precedent that even something as minor as 1080pr shouldn't be allowed to get by.
 
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