Sega Proposes $1.25m Settlement In Aliens: Colonial Marines Case

Sega has proposed to pay out a $1.25 million class action suit brought to them and Gearbox under accusations of false advertisements and false demos during the botched pre-release and release of the critically derided Aliens: Colonial Marines.

If approved, the settlement will clear Sega of America of any further litigation, but not Gearbox Software, which recently filed a request to have claims against it dropped.

If approved by the court, Sega will pay $1.25 million into a settlement fund. Of that fund, $312,500 will be used to cover attorney fees for the plaintiffs, $200,000 will be used to cover the cost of adminstration, $2,500 will go to the plaintiff and the rest will be used to pay to those eligible customers who purchased the game. Payments to customers who fill out a three question claim form, purchased the game before Feb. 13, 2013 and are approved, will not exceed the amount paid for the game. The amount each customer receives back will be dependent on how many people submit claims. No money will be returned to Sega.

“In exchange for the relief described above, Sega — but not Gearbox — will receive a full release of all claims related to Aliens: Colonial Marines, including claims relating to the design, marketing, operation of, or warranties provided in connection with the game,” according to the filing. “Quite importantly, the settlement only releases claims against Sega — not Gearbox — so the litigation will continue as to that defendant with the prospect of further recovery.”

Specifically, according to the filing, the plaintiffs expect another chance to “recover” in this suit against Gearbox, who aren’t quite in the clear yet, under even more accusations of falsely using funds to instead focus on Borderlands 2, along with outsourcing an unknown amount of the full game to a third party studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2qVebxlUo