‘Unfinished’ Black Ops Reported For Government Investigation

An independent gaming pressure group has told IncGamers it is to report Activision to the Office of Fair Trading after the publisher failed to respond to an open letter regarding the buggy ‘unfinished’ versions of Black Ops on PC and PS3.
Gamers’ Voice, which was founded in 2009 by MP Tom Watson, was set up to represent gamers in the UK by making their voice heard to government and mainstream media.
The organisation issued an open letter to Activision on December 22, revealing that they have been ‘inundated with complaints from people who have bought copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops. They all concern the PlayStation 3 console and PC versions of the game.’
The letter asked Activision what they are going to do to ‘recompense’ buyers, giving the publisher one calendar month to respond. Activision, however, failed to do so.
Chris O’Regan, Head of Industry Relations at Gamers’ Voice, told IncGamers: “As a result of their inaction we will test the might of government agencies against Activision. We can only hope this brings about some litigious action. These agencies do exist to protect our rights as consumers, let us see if they can fullfill their remit on this pressing issue.
“GV wish to set an example with Activision to ensure games are not released in an unfinished state. If litigation is initiated, then a precedent would be set. In other words, publishers will have to reconsider releasing unfinished code in the future, in the UK at least.”
O’Regan said it could take ‘months’ for a formal government investigation, stating: “For the government agencies, months if they do start a formal investigation. For Activision, they may re-act a might quicker, although it will likely be a rebuttal and nothing more.”
The news comes after IncGamers was told by Trading Standards that buyers should get a refund for bug-ridden versions of the game.