The MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria is not coming, at least not as it was originally planned. Therefore, the development studio Soulbound Studios has been sued. The situation is slowly escalating now as there are issues with refunds.
What kind of MMORPG is it about? It is about Chronicles of Elyria, a sandbox MMORPG where your hero was supposed to age and die. With descendants, you should be able to continue playing and, for example, establish a trade empire or further expand the rule over an entire kingdom.
What has happened with Chronicles of Elyria? On March 25, the CEO of Soulbound Studios had to explain that all employees were laid off. The company has run out of money. Nevertheless, the development was to continue on a voluntary basis to create a playable product.
However, the disappointment of the Kickstarter backers and supporters of the MMORPG was significant. Some demanded their money back. A class-action lawsuit was even sought.
Where are the refunds?
What has happened now? Currently, there are increasing reports from players on Discord, talking about issues with refunds. Those who used the Xsolla service for payment seem to be hitting a wall when inquiring about refunds.
Specifically, it concerns purchases made in the three months prior to the announcement of the cancellation of Chronicles of Elyria. The question arises whether Xsolla already knew during that time that things were going downhill with Soulbound Studios and should not have accepted any payments.
Xsolla refers to the terms and conditions (via xsolla). Since refunds can only be made if nothing has been delivered at all. This is not really the case with Chronicles of Elyria. A pre-alpha demo of the parkour gameplay has been released. Also, maybe a game could still emerge. Xsolla seems to be operating in a legal gray area here.
Refunds for crowdfunding games are generally somewhat problematic. There is basically no guarantee that a project will come to fruition. However, there is a workaround if the payment service provider offers refunds. This is the case with Xsolla – with limitations.
What does the situation look like? In the Discord discussion about the refunds, the following can be read:
Despite the CONSTANT and CONSISTENT communication with Xsolla over the last 3-4 months, they have constantly made excuses and hidden behind the worst customer service I have ever seen a company fall back on. You just have to look at the countless screenshots being shared over the #RefundStatus channel to see the stone wall Xsolla has continually fallen back on, in direct disregard to both their own rules and regulations and the law itself.
Whether the money is now gone or whether a refund will occur cannot currently be said. We have followed up with Xsolla and will update the article accordingly when we receive a response.
Besides Chronicles of Elyria, there are other MMORPGs that could be very interesting. If you want to know which MMORPGs we believe are the most promising in 2020, then read the MeinMMO article These are the 8 most promising titles for 2020, in our opinion.
