Chronicles of Elyria is the first MMORPG that died in 2020. It was developed over many years and supported by players via crowdfunding. Now, however, some of the supporters want to sue the developers.
What happened? In 2016, the MMORPG raised over 1.3 million dollars through Kickstarter. Various actions followed in which players could spend additional money, such as for an “in-game Advent calendar” worth $95.
On March 25, the CEO of the developer Soulbound Studios announced the discontinuation of the MMORPG. All employees were terminated.
Now, some angry and frustrated players have banded together and want to file a class-action lawsuit in Washington, where the studio is registered.
Can they succeed? A player shared on reddit that the Washington AGO has officially accepted their complaint and is now in contact with the studio. A total of over 150 complaints are said to have been submitted.
This was the first step towards a lawsuit against the company. Currently, the former fans of the MMORPG are looking for a lawyer to represent them. Anyone who wants to participate or has information can join a Discord chat.
However, it is currently uncertain whether there is any money to be obtained from the studio. The same court has already ruled in favor of the players in another case involving a Kickstarter campaign. In that instance, it was against Asylum Playing Cards (via Washington AGO).
The plaintiffs have several goals
What is behind the lawsuit? The class action lawsuit against Chronicles of Elyria aims to bring a form of justice to the players. They hope for one of the following scenarios:
- Financial compensation for the supporters
- The IP of Chronicles of Elyria will be made freely accessible to everyone
- There will be proceedings against Jeremy Walsh, the CEO of the company
In total, Chronicles of Elyria raised nearly 8 million dollars from players. In return, there was no functioning game. Therefore, the plaintiffs have high hopes that at least one of the three cases will come to pass.
Additionally, they are currently trying to retrieve their money through Xsolla, a company that handles payment transactions, which has led Xsolla to also contact Soulbound Studios:
The lawsuits against gaming companies can indeed have a chance, as shown by former fans of ArcheAge. They went to court in 2015 and achieved a settlement of $420,000 in 2020. However, this case also shows that players need to have a lot of patience.
