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A North Carolina man is suing the maker of the Final Fantasy XV mobile game over claims that the app is designed to trick players into spending money.
Christopher East says Machine Zone Inc. and its subsidiary Epic Action deceived him and induced him to spend an estimated $14,500 on the game over the span of four months this year. The companies are profiting through predatory and fraudulent advertising practices and unfair business practices, East says, and violating California business laws in the process.
East filed a class action lawsuit against Machine Zone and Epic Action on Oct. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division. He is seeking monetary damages from the companies he claims “intentionally transformed the game into an exploitative monetized service” and wants to represent a Class of other players who were induced to make in-app purchases to enhance their experiences.
“Among other things, [the] defendants introduced into the game an illegal money-making scheme that relies on false and misleading pop-up advertisements, coupled with design elements similar to casino play, to disguise the true cost of the gaming service until players are financially and psychologically invested,” East’s class action lawsuit says. “Defendants’ advertising and pricing scheme is predatory and unfair, and it harms consumers.”
Final Fantasy XV is the mobile version of the popular role-playing, “Japanese anthology science fantasy” action game of the same name created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, according to the class action lawsuit. It was released as an app for mobile devices on Android and Apple operating system platforms in June 2017.
East says he’s played the game on his Android phone since March.
The game is classified as a “massively multiplayer online role-playing game,” East’s class action lawsuit says, meaning it hosts a large number of players all participating in a shared online world in real time.
Final Fantasy XV had been downloaded more than 51 million times by January 2019, and grossed more than $165 million in the U.S. and $518 million worldwide, according to East’s lawyer. A good amount of the money it earns comes from in-app purchases.
“The game is free to download, but almost immediately users are encouraged to make in-game purchases, or microtransactions, which involve spending real money, usually in small amounts (but not always) to have access to certain features or services within the game,” the class action lawsuit explains.
Purchasing enhancements to upgrade the Final Fantasy game experience is critical to the game, East claims.
“Without purchasing these packs — which cost real money — players are unable to advance in the game and are easily defeated by other players who have made such purchases and upgrades.”
The pay-to-play scheme is where the game designers have gone wrong, the class action lawsuit says. It uses “false and misleading advertising, predatory pricing tactics, and gambling psychology designed to create and reinforce addictive behaviors,” the plaintiff argues.
Packs of boosters and other gaming enhancers are first offered via promotions for $4.99 each, the class action says. The offers are made through pop-up graphics on the screen featuring “casino-like” bright colors and lights and suspenseful music and often are billed as being available for a limited time only.
After a player buys a pack of game extras at the entry-level price, subsequent offers often come at higher prices, jumping up to $19.99 and then $99.99 or more.
“Once a player purchases a $19.99 pack, he is rarely if ever are offered a $4.99 pack again. Similarly, once a player purchases a $99.99 pack, he is rarely if ever offered a $4.99 or $19.99 pack,” the class action lawsuit alleges. “In almost all instances, the packs … do not actually provide the item or service advertised, forcing players to buy additional packs — at increasing costs — to achieve the items or results originally advertised.”
Through the Final Fantasy XV game’s design, Machine Zone and Epic Action have violated California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law, among others, and are guilty of unjust enrichment at the expense of their players, East alleges.
The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial for the class action lawsuit.
Have you ever played the Final Fantasy XV mobile game? Were you convinced to make in-app purchases to enhance the game? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
East and the proposed Class Members are represented by Melody L. Sequoia of The Sequoia Law Firm.
The Final Fantasy Class Action Lawsuit is Christopher East, et al. v. Epic Action LLC, et al., Case No. 5:20-cv-07455, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.
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40 thoughts onFinal Fantasy Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over In-App Sales
hola gaste 600 dolares jugando en 2020 fui estafado porque cada vez aumentaba la dificultad y era imposible llegar a mantener unn un nivel alto, como me puedo sumar a la demanda?
spent thousands in this game , buying packs and then they were obsolete because next week they get another pack out that makes everything you have not good anymore , I feel so stupid to have played this game , maybe around 2016-2017-2018 . I don’t even want to go see how much I spent ( probably close to 5000$) I wish I could get my money back and they would go bankrupt , because a lot of people are still buying packs in this game . ( mobile FFVX )
I haven’t played this particular game, but I did play one of machine zone inc’ games “Game of War”, also “Mobile Strike”. Spent well of 10k on those games. Never again will I get suckered into paying for upgrades in an online game.
I was charged for packs I didn’t purchase, it was like every debit card that I used was charged for packs I didn’t buy
How do I join the lawsuit?
Did this ordeal ever get anywhere? I was thousands of dollars into the game until they did an update that pretty much made everything we had built obsolete.
I’m homeless due too game been playing from start whilst living on job, I only wanted too buy a pack a week but turned it too several due too the enticing discount packs before I know job ended and I should had at least 40k which was too start my new chapter in my life, instead I only could afford a tent. It’s very indicative an I assuming the music the game plays makes it hypnotic certainly bamboozled me thanks epic just what I wanted a tent
Happened to me. Lost thousands.