Player Files FTC Complaint Against EA Over Mass Effect 3 Ending

The debacle over the Mass Effect 3 ending continues, as yesterday a player stated he has now filed an official FTC complaint against EA over the ending. The player, known as “el spiko” on the BioWare forums,  stated he was lied to by EA and BioWare about how the game would finally end; which constitutes as false-advertising.

To be clear, this is not a lawsuit, merely a complaint to the FTC; which deals with protecting consumers against unfair or false advertising practices, as well as other consumer issues.

At the core of the complaint was that EA had promised, in multiple inteviews and press releases, that the Mass Effect 3 ending would answer all players questions, and tie-off the franchise. In one interview with Venturebeat, executive producer of ME3 Casey Hudson stated,

“Mass Effect 3 is all about answering all the biggest questions in the lore, learning about the mysteries and the Protheans and the Reapers, being able to decide for yourself how all of these things come to an end.”

The second major complaint was that players were told their choices would have a direct impact on the stories ending, another promise that did not live up to expectations.

The player who filed the complaint stated the following, hoping that it might finally put enough pressure on the gaming titans that they might react more quickly to address the players concerns over the ending.

This is not somethign I was happy to do, but after the terrible ending that was in no way the product that had been advertised to me and the lack of any kind of response from Bioware/EA to address this, I felt it was one of my only recourses. I’ll be returning my copy of the game before the end of my 30 day return policy if the ending still hasn’t been addressed by then.

From the perspective of someone that has never played a Mass Effect game, this seems completely ridiculous to me. We’ve all been disappointed at one time or another with a game’s ending, but to start filing official government complaints because you didn’t like it is way over the top. What’s next, lawsuits against games that suck?  “Well according to their advertisement, this game was supposed to be awesome“. Give me a break.

Like any art form, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. I thought the ending to the Sopranos, and really the whole last season, was a steaming pile of dog crap. I felt cheated that the ending provide zero information about anything, and so did millions of other fans. Should I have filed an FTC complaint against HBO?

Get over it; it’s a video game. You had fun, the ending wasn’t want you wanted, so chill-out, and wait for the DLC update, or the next game in the franchise. Sure, BioWare stated Mass Effect 3 was going to be the end; but we all know it’s not the last game for the franchise.