Atari Sues Sites Over Alone in the Dark Reviews
Atari, the eternally financially ailing publisher, has set a new low: it has filed suit against German gaming website 4Players for publishing a negative pre-release review of Alone in the Dark, alleging that it was written based on a pirated copy of the game.
According to this 4Players editorial, Atari’s lawsuit claims that the publication date of the review – which gave the game a 68% rating – implies that the site based its opinion on a pirated or preview version of the title. The site insists that it obtained a copy of the game through a retail connection before the title’s June 20 street date.
Meanwhile, Shacknews carries word from Gamer.nl that it was also asked to take down its 5/10 review of the game.
“Within an hour [after posting], Atari called to have the review pulled off, claiming there was an embargo till Friday,” wrote the site to Shacknews. “Our review copy was sent directly to us by Atari and [was] not a pirated copy. They explicitly told [Gamer.nl] that they only let high scoring reviews break the post-release embargo date.”