Last week we reported that legal firm Holzer Holzer and Fistel, was investigating EA's public statements about Battlefield 4's progress. This probably would have led to a lawsuit eventually but for now, another firm has beat it to the punch as Robins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, has launched a class action lawsuit against EA.
The law firm alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against EA executives. Much like the previous investigation we spoke about, the complaint focuses on statements made between the 24th of July and the 3rd of December and as a result of those statements, EA's share value inflated for a bit and subsequently, a few of EA's higher ups sold shares and gained thousands.
It's not just the PC version of Battlefield 4 that investors are upset about, there are also some charges relating to the Playstation 4 version of the game as once the problems were revealed, EA's share value dropped significantly. It got even worse when the publisher announced that it would be putting a halt to all future projects until Battlefield 4 was fixed.
The lawsuit seeks to recover damages on behalf of everyone who purchased stock under the impression that Battlefield 4 was on the right track. However, the case still needs a lead plaintiff to go forward: they'll need one by the 15th of February in order to proceed.
EA has responded to these claims: “We believe these claims are meritless. We intend to aggressively defend ourselves, and we’re confident the court will dismiss the complaint in due course.”
KitGuru Says: Maybe EA will finally learn this time as it's not just the gamers they've angered anymore. There was no need to rush Battlefield 4. That said, it was a major launch title for both next gen consoles and since we already lost Watch Dogs, the additional loss of Battlefield 4 may have had an impact on console sales.
Source: Gamespot