Sony ‘Killzone: Shadow Fall’ Class Action Dismissed by Federal Judge

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A California federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Sony Computer Entertainment America, LLC over false advertising charges about the graphics in the video game “Killzone: Shadow Fall.”

U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen said in his May 4 ruling that he dismissed the Killzone class action lawsuit with prejudice, which means that plaintiff Douglas Ladore may not refile the class action lawsuit in any form. The ruling was made because Ladore and Sony agreed to have the lawsuit dismissed, Chen said in the joint stipulation to dismiss. Ladore filed the joint stipulation on April 22.

This implies that a class action settlement has been reached, but the terms of that settlement were not disclosed by Judge Chen and are expected to be kept private at this time.

The California federal judge says that Sony and Ladore will each pay their own attorneys’ fees.

There have been no comments from either attorneys about the terms of the settlement.

Ladore filed his Killzone class action lawsuit in August 2014, alleging that the video game “Killzone: Shadow Fall,” which was made to be played on the PlayStation 4, did not live up to the marketing about the graphics that the game was supposed to include.

The Killzone class action lawsuit was filed about a year after both the PS4 and Killzone were unveiled and sold in the United States.

The class action lawsuit also came after a report was issued by Digital Foundry, saying that there were some discrepancies between what Sony had claimed about “Killzone: Shadow Fall” and how the game actually performed.

“Sony claimed that the PS4 was so powerful that its featured Killzone video game could display ‘1080p’ multiplayer graphics, a crowning achievement in the video game industry,” Ladore said in the Killzone class action lawsuit. “Unfortunately, Sony’s marketing and on-box representations turned out to be nothing more than fiction.”

The expectations about the game’s graphics are what led more than two million people to purchase the game for $50, Ladore had argued in his August Killzone class action lawsuit.

However, he alleged that Killzone customers complained about the graphics that they did not live up to expectations, and the above report was released confirming that “Killzone’s multiplayer did not actually provide ‘1080p’ graphics as advertised.”

Ladore says in his class action lawsuit that following the complaints and the report by Digital Foundry, Sony admitted that it used some kind of shortcut in the advertisements and marketing for the game to make Killzone look like it had better graphics than it actually had, which Ladore said helped with the promotion of the game.

Ladore charged Sony with violating the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the California Unfair Competition Law, the California False Advertising Law, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and unjust enrichment.

The plaintiff is represented by Samuel Lasser, Jay Edelson, Rafey S. Balabanian, Ari J. Scharg, and Alicia E. Hwang of Edelson PC.

Sony is represented by Luanne Sacks and Michele D. Floyd of Sacks, Ricketts & Case LLP.

The Sony Killzone False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Ladore v. Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC, Case No. 3:14-cv-03530, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.