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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
I wish I could stop playing but have so much money invested seems like a true waste to stop. Packs are a joke. Citadel 170 pack bought it and they tell me no that was not the right pack to get citadel 170. It was the other citadel 170 pack.
Yh I feel so invested in it I can’t stop, often feel I will some day be rewarded but someone said something completely unrelated too game, maybe your deluded, I thinking there right when it comes too the game
100% accurate, I got suckered in the same way.
This game definitely encourages you to buy with incessant advertisements. You cannot be a significant player without paying. Game is addictive and packages keep getting more expensive. Customer service is terrible, game events are not updated, just a money grab.
Yes been playing the game for 5 yrs. The game makes you spend money to be relevant. When Packs are being sold in one server and given away the same thing in another. This can be proven with the SS from both servers. 100 dollars in one server and free in another this is classified as discrimination.
This game is nothing but a scam. You can purchase a $100 pack to get some kind of special weapon only for developers to release another $100 a few days later that makes your weapon basically obsolete.. well surprise 3 weeks later there will be another super weapon (Who knew!!) This money grab scheme needs to be stopped.
My husband and I were playing World War Rising Command through MZ and we spent over 78,000 last year until we went through our finances and it was embarrassing. It’s suppose to be free to play but like others said, if we do not spend we can not advance and are easy targets. We were Clyde and Bonnie, but we gave our bases away and left it alone.
The game advertises buy 1 get 1 free pop ups and then you purchase the get 1 free pack does not Match the buy pack. Secondly, multiple purchases including extra expansion to have a response from the developers that they do not allow more than a maximum of 7…so why sell it for us to buy? Multiple times purchased items and did not receive what was purchased
Absolutely a scam also have screenshots and email correspondence
Many different times I have bought packs that were misleading. They would mention I would get a gear set and only receive one piece of the set. They will also offer unlocks with not enough to unlock the item making you buy it again to unlock it. Very shady game and they trap you in.
Games bordering on a subscription fee too play with its pay too play mentality, you will own nothing an be happy with your subscriptions
Bait and switch game for sure. They would release a pack that introduces new things for 99, and then the following week they would release something that would defeat the prior week’s release, forcing you to buy more. I have a lot of email exchanges as proof when I tried to reach their customer service.