EA under investigation

looks like this is going to be a big deal. A lawfirm is investigating EA for selling an unfinished product in Battlefield 4 and is going under an investigation

http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/11/5199452/lawfirm-kicks-off-investigation-into-ea-and-battlefield-4

I'll testify on behalf of gamers everywhere! It won't be Battlefield related though. But I have plenty of mean things to say regarding Sim City.

While online games are expected to have some issues at launch, it is preferable that they don't.

That said there seems to be a trend now to have games released who either right away or later on have some serious issues, Such as Diablo 3 launch as an example.

If there needs a investigation and such to ensure the consumers can get products that work as intended by the majority of developer studios then I'm all for it.

Games like War Z, SimCity, Diablo, etc should all be under investigation!

I doubt this will go anywhere. Software products are provided "as is"

Copied and pasted from the BF4 EULA you agreed to by installing the game (I fixed the original all caps and bolded the key parts):

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Disclaimer of Warranties: except for the limited warranty on recording media, if applicable, and to the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, the software is provided to you “as is,” with all faults, without warranty of any kind, without performance assurances or guarantees of any kind, and your use is at your sole risk. The entire risk of satisfactory quality and performance resides with you. EA and EA’s licensors (collectively “EA” for purposes of this section and section 6) do not make, and hereby disclaim, any and all express, implied or statutory warranties, including implied warranties of condition, uninterrupted use, merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, noninfringement of third party rights, and warranties (if any) arising from a course of dealing, usage, or trade practice. EA does not warrant against interference with your enjoyment of the software; that the software willmeet your requirements; that operation of the software will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that the software will interoperate or be compatible with any other software or that any errors in the software will be corrected. No oral or written advice provided by EA or any authorized representative shall create a warranty. some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of or limitations on implied warranties or the limitations on the applicable statutory rights of a consumer, so some or all of the above exclusions and limitations may not apply to you.

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In laymen's terms, game companies premise they sell you a product and that they do not take any responsibility for what it is, nor they do promise to patch bugs. We accept those terms and the jokes is on us.

This means absolute nothing for gamers, the only reason this law firm can have for doing this is to try to squeeze some money out of EA.

@Black_Knight_00: The case actually has nothing to do with the end-users, so that EULA isn't relevant.

According to the link, the law firm is investigating whether EA made false statements to their own shareholders about the quality/development/financial prospects of Battlefield 4. That would violate federal securities laws, so it could be a big deal for them.

That is bs, if something isn't what they promised us, they can't just say "oops, we made an unfinished product, but it's not our fault that you bought it" It's bs, and that doesn't apply to those that bought the physical disc

Thats also not what the law-firm is investigating.

They are looking at whether or not EA have been fraudulent in an attempt to sell more shares/raise the stock price. And will only serve as a base for 1 thing, which is lawsuits by shareholders who wants to be reimbursed any loss following a purchase of shares when it went up

It will mean absolute zero for Mr&Mrs Joe Ordinary gamer.

Yes, you are correct, I was misled by the opening post.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to squeeze out of this though the same loophole.

The EULA have nothing to do with stock prices or information to shareholders.

If it can be proven that EA deliberately sugarcoated the truth to their shareholders it can turn out to cost them a fair amount, but it won't mean anything for normal gamers and will probably end up with a OOC decision if EA thinks they might end up losing.

I hope this affects the entire video game industry by dissuading developers and publishers from releasing semi-finished products as complete merchandise.

Forget the EULA for a second. What I gather from the article is they are being contested for supposedly lying to stock holders about the completion status of development of BF4. Now, I can't find any document which details how interactions and more specifically disclosure of details on development between software firms and stock holders are regulated, but all I'm saying is that I would not be surprised if they managed to wiggle out by using a principle similar to the one expressed in that EULA.

Ahh ok you meant a more general loophole

But ya there might be one but in regards to securities fraud, its one of those key areas in american law which are being strictly regulated so even tho there might not be a federal investigation by the SEC, if this law-firm can find any evidence at all, They might have a good enough basis for a lawsuit but we all know that big companies usually settle this before it even hits the courts.

It wont do anything to anything at all.

This is a fishing expedition to see if they can rattle EA´s money tree enough so some might fall down.

Pretty much, they are simply fishing to set a precedent, but I doubt this will float. If it did, there's no way someone wouldn't have thought to call Bethesda out on Skyrim or New Vegas.

Granted, I wish it did float, since it would result in companies bugfixing games before releasing them instead of using the end user as a paying betatester.

@Black_Knight_00: Sooner or later, someone is going to challenge the validity of EULAs and the 'non-signature signature of agreement's. And when that day eventually arrives, I hope to God the decision will be that they aren't binding.

Saying that I agreed to not own a product I paid for after I paid for it is bullshit.

Betcha one of those lawyers or paralegals were also blocked trying to get online and is also a player. They got fed up too and decided to exercise some legal toughness. You don't often see firms getting on games for false advertisement.

Betcha one of those lawyers or paralegals were also blocked trying to get online and is also a player. They got fed up too and decided to exercise some legal toughness. You don't often see firms getting on games for false advertisement.

Or maybe its just nervous, stingy investors who were promised a goldmine, and are upset that D.I.C.E. didn't poop out a full golden egg under EA's cracking whip.

When that day comes we'll open a bottle of the good stuff and celebrate. Until then I'm afraid we have to endure their bullshit.

Wanna hear the funny part? At least PC games have the decency to give you a copy of the EULA. Console games can't be bothered to do even that, but you're still bound by the agreement.

@Black_Knight_00: Until the day I get a free copy of the game when I send in the one I bought chipped, scratched and/or broken into inplayability, then they can shove that "you buy the data, not the disc" crap right up their collective ass.

Sideways.

Back in the SNES days the line was less blurry: games were PCBs, complex pieces of electronics covered by standard warranty and whose price was justified by the hardware itself, also copying them was virtually impossible, so no one gave a toss about this licensing crap. CDs made everything more complicated: all of a sudden games came on incredibly cheap supports but retail prices remained more or less the same, also opening the way for easy piracy. Digital delivery multiplied the issue tenfold: no physical support at all, but same price, it's understandable that people want to know what the heck they are buying.

We americans love to sue one another just to see if something might come from it. Happens all the time.

Considering that this is about what Electronic Arts told investors, I would say this is not as you say, but more about the principal of established trust. Money is simply a tool which people utilize as part of a foundation for business.

" the software is provided to you “as is,” with all faults, without warranty of any kind"

this is kinda a joke. not the matter of the fact, but the indecency of it all.

But this opens the door to all sorts of lawsuits. An indie developer can release a game, ANY GAME (whether complete of not), and then be accused of releasing an incomplete product. I QUIT the game business!! (Last sentence was a joke :P)