14 DAY TRIAL // Killzone: Shadow Fall did not have a huge impact on the launch of the PlayStation 4, but the game might be important for the future of video game advertising after a judge has allowed a class action lawsuit linked to the title to proceed, despite opposition from Sony.
Douglas Ladore is a player who claims that the resolution at which the shooter was offered was misrepresented by the company in its promotional campaign and that this situation is unacceptable for the industry and the public.
The 1080p standard was featured in the ads that Sony ran before launch, in order to show off the power of the newly introduced PlayStation 4, but it was only achieved in multiplayer through interpolation.
The gamer is asking for compensation because he was driven to distraction by the blurry multiplayer graphics of Killzone: Shadow Fall.
Sony said that the lawsuit should be thrown out because it did not lie when talking about the capabilities of the shooter.
Edward Chen, a United States district judge, now says that the lawsuit can go ahead.
Courthouse News quotes him as saying that “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.”
Douglas Ladore needs to file a new, amended complaint in order for the lawsuit to go forward.
Companies need to communicate better
The end of 2014 was marked by video game launches, from Assassin’s Creed Unity to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, that were affected by major problems with graphics, gameplay, multiplayer matchmaking and more, some of which have not yet been solved by developers.
If the Killzone: Shadow Fall lawsuit goes ahead and Sony needs to pay damages for the way it advertised a product, then other gamers will probably band together in order to launch legal proceedings against the likes of Microsoft or Ubisoft.
In the long term, such a move might force publishers to pay more attention to the quality of their games on launch and could mean that it will be easier than ever for gamers to be compensated for experiences that are subpar on launch.
