Aliens: Colonial Marines trailers deemed misleading in UK, get disclaimers

In a letter in response to a player complaint, the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority said that Sega Europe acknowledged that footage used in trailers for Aliens: Colonial Marines were misleading, according to a post on Reddit.

Reddit user "superdave" submitted the complaint to Sega regarding the "absurd" difference between trailers for Colonial Marines and the quality of the final game.

"Gearbox and Sega spoke very clearly—by saying absolutely nothing—and showed the purchasing community that they would rather this mess all quietly disappear," he wrote, stating game companies need to be held accountable for "blatantly deceiving the consumer."

According to the ASA's response letter after speaking with Sega Europe, the company said their trailers "used demo footage, created using the in-game engine," but that they were unaware of the quality issues when the trailers were produced. The ASA stated it would informally uphold the complaint.

"Sega Europe acknowledged your objection that the trailers did not accurately reflect the final content of the game," reads the letter. "They agreed to add a disclaimer, both on their website and in all relevant YouTube videos, which explains that the trailers depict footage of the demo versions of the game."

Aliens: Colonial Marines drew criticism when it launched for consoles and Windows PC earlier this year, with players complaining that the quality of the final game did not match that if its marketing materials. In our review, Polygon included a gallery of screenshots comparing screenshots distributed by Sega and captures from the final game. There is still no word on the Wii U version of the game.