Judge rules against EA shareholders’ Battlefield 4 class action suit

The lawsuit against Electronic Arts involving Battlefield 4’s poor launch and online performance directly affecting EA’s share price has suffered a setback, as a federal judge has ruled against the shareholders who filed the suit.

According to Courthouse News, the suit also claimed senior executives at the publisher knew Battlefield 4 wasn’t ready for release and made or approved false claims about the quality of the game.

Judge Susan Illston of US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that statements made by EA CEO Andrew Wilson and CFO Blake Jorgensen were [vague statements] of corporate optimism,” and puffery,” that any business would make of its products – not materially false and misleading statements,” the lawsuit claims.

The favorable ruling isn’t an outright victory for EA, as shareholders Ryan Kelly and Louis Mastro have until November 3rd to fix and refile their complaint. Ilston also ruled that Kelly and Mastro may substitute lead plaintiffs who purchased stock after statements made between October 29th and December 3rd of last year.