State of Survival players accuse devs of false advertising and misleading in-game prices

FunPlus and KingsGroup Holdings have faced a class action lawsuit from players of their popular mobile game State of Survival. Users accused the developers of falsely advertising limited time sales alongside big prices that never existed.

What happened?

• According to the lawsuit (first spotted by Top Class Actions last month) filed in a California federal court, FunPlus and KingsGroup are accused of misleading in-game prices.
• The companies advertise false former prices by urging players to buy an in-game item at a 99% discount. For example, customers were given a limited time offer to pay $9.99 instead of $997.4.
• Despite the developers using warnings like “only one remaining”, these big prices actually never existed.
• “These advertisements have run for years,” the class action suit reads. “But at no point, let alone within three months of the advertised discounts, have these in-game items ever actually been offered at a non-discounted price — i.e. without their ‘limited time discounts.’”
• The plaintiffs seek restitution, injunctive relief, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and other reliefs that the court may find appropriate.

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Launched in 2019, State of Survival was developed by Chinese studio KingsGroup Games and published by its parent company FunPlus. The mobile survival game has reached over $1 billion in revenue, surpassing 150 million downloads last month.