A law firm specializing in class-action lawsuits is investigating a potential case against Activision Blizzard's false advertising in Diablo: Immortal.
Law firm Migliaccio & Rathod LLP says that the Heroic Blessing/God's Gift Legendary Gem changes its effect in ways that are detrimental to players after being upgraded.
The company says that at level two, gems have the potential to deal damage equivalent to the player's maximum health whenever a player is injured. However, at level 3, it will change to damage equal to the player's current health.
It also added that the gemstone was sold in bundles that cost up to more than $100.
"Blizzard is not offering refunds or some form of compensation, but rather identifying in its response to the Blizzard community that they will change the text description of the project to reflect the actual effect of its elevation to Level 3," the company said. ”
"This practice is essentially a 'stealing the beam' scam, because a purchasable item is advertised as having the effect the player wants, but ends up getting a completely different effect."
Migliaccio & Rathod LLP also thanked the Communications Workers Union of America (CWA) for bringing the matter to its attention.
CWA and Activision Blizzard have been fighting in recent years, with unions organizing Raven Software and Blizzard's QA employees in Albany, and Activision Blizzard has been opposing the unionization of its studios.
Activision Blizzard, in addition to delaying the union formation process, was accused by CWA of illegally threatening employees and enforcing social media policies that violated employee rights.
CWA's latest unionizing activity is Proletariat Studios, which was previously acquired by Blizzard. For now they have collected enough union signature cards from the studio to start a union, but Activision Blizzard refuses to recognize the union and wants a formal vote under the supervision of the National Industrial Relations Board.