Pace of Change Dooms ‘Call of Duty’ Class Action

SAN FRANCISCO (CN)- A federal judge dismissed a class action that claimed two of the "Call of Duty" video games cause older versions of the Sony Playstation 3 to overheat, making them unusable.

Plaintiff Henry Garcia sued Sony and Activision Blizzard last year over alleged problems with the games "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare."

Garcia claimed that "normal and intended use of Call of Duty, and certain other PS3-branded videogames, overtaxes the computational capabilities of first-generation PS3 models, such as his, prompting the graphics processor unit (GPU) to overheat and the console to fail," according to the court's fact summary.

In an order Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg found that Garcia should have known that his old gaming system would be incompatible with advances in gaming technology, and he did not state a plausible claim.

"[I]t it is less than self-evident that consumers would expect first-generation gaming consoles to be compatible with games released years later, given the premise that the videogame industry is typified by rapid technological change," the judge wrote in his order.

"Common experience suggests the contrary: that constant innovation often leads to incompatibility and the obsolescence of older products," he continued. The judge granted Sony and Blizzard's motion to dismiss Garcia's unfair competition claim with prejudice, finding that Garcia had two opportunities to amend his complaint with more specific factual allegations, but failed to do so.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit