A class action lawsuit has been filed against King of Avalon developers Funplus over “mendacious advertising”.
The suit was filed by players of the game who are represented by the firm Pollock Cohen LLP. In a statement they lay out their case that, “We are investigating whether King of Avalon and FunPlus falsely advertise and sell game items in King of Avalon at allegedly substantial discounts to lure players to purchase packs based on deals that never existed.”
They also allege that their case is based on specific examples of misleading advertising in the game. “King of Avalon offers players discounted reward packs with a red-strikethrough line making it appear as if the prices have been significantly marked down. In reality, however, there may be no discounts - these were the same prices players would normally pay. The fraudulent limited time offers may have been sold to millions of players at up to $99.99 per purchase.”
Once more, with feeling
This is not the first time that FunPlus has faced a lawsuit alleging misleading advertising. The last such case also involved similar allegations, that discounts advertised with a price that had a red strikethrough were not in-fact reductions. The individuals who filed the lawsuit were also represented by Pollock Cohen LLP, although it’s not clear whether or not they are representing the same individuals.
It’s not uncommon for class action lawsuits to be levied against games, as it allows multiple individuals to join the suit, and with these title’s large player bases it provides more legal weight. However, given that the suit against State of Survival was also regarding similar accusations it may be that the decision in their case affects the decision for King of Avalon, or vice versa.
But until the lawsuit is either resolved, dismissed or a ruling is made, it won’t be clear how much trouble if any that FunPlus is in. Regardless, the studio will have good reason to be protective of their titles, As State of Survival also passed a 150 million downloads threshold last year.
