Class Action against EA Executives due to share dumping

Big Phoenix_sl said:

So why exactly are EA stock holders suing EA? The value of EA stock is up almost 100% YTD.

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I'm not sure why, but I actually read the pdf. Well, most of it. There may have been some skimming done.

The lawsuit is only about July through December, and the class is people who bought stock during that time period. The complaint is that EA execs falsely claimed that all was well with BF4, which boosted the stock price, and then they sold their shares knowing full well the real state the game was in. Now everyone has seen that the game was nowhere close to being ready to ship, and EA saying that DICE is devoting everything to fixing it instead of starting up the DLC milking machine is going to shift a bunch of expected revenue back a quarter or more and the stock is tumbling.

That last part is what it's really all about, of course. I'll probably never understand why, but EA apparently makes an absurd amount of money off of Battlefield DLC.

Vorph_sl said:

I'm not sure why, but I actually read the pdf. Well, most of it. There may have been some skimming done.

The lawsuit is only about July through December, and the class is people who bought stock during that time period. The complaint is that EA execs falsely claimed that all was well with BF4, which boosted the stock price, and then they sold their shares knowing full well the real state the game was in. Now everyone has seen that the game was nowhere close to being ready to ship, and EA saying that DICE is devoting everything to fixing it instead of starting up the DLC milking machine is going to shift a bunch of expected revenue back a quarter or more and the stock is tumbling.

That last part is what it's really all about, of course. I'll probably never understand why, but EA apparently makes an absurd amount of money off of Battlefield DLC.

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Jesus Christ that was depressing to read. Is this what video games are now? They are not upset because a game shipped unfinished, they are upset that on top of other things that the money making DLC will be delayed so that can actually fix the game people already paid money for.

So they don't give a shit about the customer, they just want to hurry up and take more money from us. They are in such a hurry to make more money that they will sue the fucking company.

I hate this planet.

Stretch that graph out to 6 months and you'll see the basis for the lawsuit.

Fantastic news. Let's hope this actually turns into something meaningful. If EA were to be eventually be sold off, it would be a great win for gamers everywhere.

Big Phoenix_sl said:

True, but 25% swings over such periods of time arent mystical things. Pretty much every single company will have swings like that in similar time periods.

This lawsuit just seems like nothing more than ambulance chasing. Only people its going to benefit are some piece of shit lawyers and maybe some mutual fund managers. Everyone else gets it in the ass. Like I said if they truly wanted to sue EA for a game that was a complete fraud and causes material damage, SimCity would of been it.

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Right, but the claim is that they knowingly reported false information in July, causing the price to go up, and people bought in at the same time they sold their shares off. And then it culminated with the announcement that DICE would be too busy fixing their shit to work on DLC, which will directly impact earnings for at least Q1 2014, causing the price to drop. 25% swings aren't normal if you can point at someone's fraud being the cause.

Don't get me wrong, I don't actually believe anything will happen to EA because of this. I would say best case scenario (for gamers) is that they make the execs involved look so bad they have to resign. Maybe the SEC gets involved but they would need some pretty damning evidence for that; unless there's emails from DICE to EA saying "you're fucking crazy if you make us ship this game out just to hit the same window as CoD" sent just before the shares were sold, they can just claim they thought there was enough time for it to be ready.

And yeah, large class action lawsuits are a fucking scam. Last time I was a member of a class was the big LCD panel price-fixing one. The lawyers will be receiving over $300M for that one, plus expenses. I think I'll be getting a check for $64, whenever the hell the appeals finally end. Not even really clear on why there are appeals on a case that was settled, and the companies involved have already paid the settlement into a fund. A cynical person might wonder who collects the interest on that $1B+ fund in the meantime.

EA, it's in the game!!!except we forgot some stuff guys

Here's another one:http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/a...lefield-4.aspx

A third law firm is in the process of seeking certification as a class on behalf of EA investors. Bower Piven has filed in US District Court (Northern California) and is seeking a lead plaintiff with common stock losses greater than $200,000.

Bower Piven cites the same reasons as the first and second firms seeking certification. Particularly, the revelation on November 15 that Battlefield 4 was having significant issues on PlayStation 4, and the announcement that EA put DICE's future projects on hold as of December 4.

The complaint alleges that EA officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act by failing to disclose bugs, glitches, and connectivity issues with Battlefield 4. Again, it's important to note that this is not a suit focused on consumers. This is exclusively about investors who purchased common stock between July 24, 2013, and December 4, 2013.

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