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Does Mass Effect 3’s Ending Count As False Advertising?

Does Mass Effect 3’s Ending Count As False Advertising?

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If you go on the Mass Effect 3 website, you’ll note that BioWare advertises these two things as key features of the game:

  • Experience the beginning, middle, and end of an emotional story unlike any other, where the decisions you make completely shape your experience and outcome.
  • Along the way, your choices drive powerful outcomes, including relationships with key characters, the fate of entire civilizations, and even radically different ending scenarios.

Unfortunately, both of these statements are rather inaccurate. The ending of Mass Effect 3 is pretty immutable, which is why fans have started a petition to change it. One gamer, who goes by the name of El_Spiko, felt that it was economically unfair for BioWare to advertise something that wasn’t in their game, and so he filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. On this point, the Better Business Bureau agreed, having concluded that the website’s statements do constitute false advertising.



This is the second recent instance of legal or federal action being taken against a gaming company for false advertising and shady business practices. Many of you may remember that gamers complained to the Better Business Bureau when Capcom included all of their Street Fighter X Tekken “DLC” on the disc, merely locking it until November.

Perhaps this growing trend of gamers making the government aware of questionable business practices will make game developers be a little bit more honest with their fan bases.

By Angelo M. D’Argenio

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