State of Survival In-Game Sale Prices Are ‘Fabricated,’ Class Action Says

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A proposed class action alleges the companies behind the microtransaction-laden State of Survival (SOS) mobile game have misled players by advertising false former prices for purportedly limited-time sales of in-game items. 

The 33-page lawsuit against FunPlus International AG and KingsGroup Holdings says the “original prices” presented for certain items in the zombie-themed, post-apocalyptic survival game are wholly “fabricated” and meant to induce players into quickly taking advantage of what they believe to be massive discounts.

“These advertisements have run for years,” the complaint out of California says. “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 filing contends that the defendants’ microtransaction-focused business model, rooted in creating a false sense of urgency, scarcity of items and purported value for its offerings, fosters “dangerous consumer behaviors” at the expense of players. Further, the case notes that since the game pits players against each other, players feel “significant pressure” to take advantage of what they’re told are limited-time offerings.

According to the suit, purchases within the free-to-download State of Survival, reportedly one of the highest-grossing mobile strategy games across Apple and Android devices, range from $0.99 to $99.99 each. Since its inception in 2019, State of Survival has grossed over a billion dollars in revenue, primarily through in-game microtransactions whereby players can acquire hero “badges,” speed-ups and other valuables, the lawsuit says. 

Per the complaint, FunPlus uses strikethrough pricing and percentages to “trick” players into believing they’re benefiting from limited-time promotions that would substantially increase the value of their in-game purchases. Essentially, players have bought packs on “sale” for prices that were the same as those they would usually pay, the filing summarizes. 

Importantly, microtransactions are necessary to gameplay in that they help players further their progress and maintain competitiveness with others, the suit shares.  

“In other words, a player who spends money in the game will be more powerful in relation to players who choose not to spend money in the game. The game leverages this by bombarding players with advertisements and invitations to buy additional packs and resources whenever they reach a point in the game where their progress has stalled. In other words, the game’s model is designed to create a sense of urgency around the purchase of in-game resources, and SOS further capitalizes on this sense of urgency by suggesting that purchases are limited-time offerings made available at a substantial discount.”

The purpose of the game, the case explains, is to advance the strength of a player’s “settlement” by upgrading buildings, locating and upgrading heroes, and training large numbers of troops. State of Survival exists amid a genre of mobile games the lawsuit characterizes as “pay to win” given that increasingly expensive items essential to gameplay must be bought with real-world money.

“If a player does not make any purchases in the game, it would require close to 16 months of playing two hours each day, 365 days a year, to gather the necessary resources to upgrade their Headquarters to level 30. And this is considered to be the first priority upgrade for players; in other words, a player who manages to upgrade their Headquarters to level 30 has only just begun.” 

According to the case, the total cost for items needed to advance to this point—roughly $1,400—is never made clear to a player because the defendants are aware that players would not be willing to pay the outsized amount up front. To combat this, the defendants have leveraged an incremental upgrade system to spread gameplay costs over “29 separate upgrades, all while keeping consumers in the dark,” the filing says. 

“In other words, at no point are players told it will cost them $1,400 to upgrade their Headquarters to level 30,” the suit states. “Instead, they are bombarded with an endless series of advertisements urgently offering limited-time sales, each providing the opportunity to purchase just the incremental resources needed at the time to reach the next level of the upgrade.” 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons who, within the applicable statute of limitations period, bought falsely priced strikethrough packs, percentage-off packs or limited-time-availability packs in State of Survival, or any packs for which they were double charged. 

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