Refund Class Action Against Chronicles of Elyria-Maker Soulbound Studios Transferred to Wash.

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action filed in February against Soulbound Studios over its alleged failure to develop the role-playing video game Chronicles of Elyria despite accepting monetary donations through Kickstarter has taken a turn, with part of the suit being sent to individual arbitration. 

United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson granted defendant Xsolla USA, Inc.’s motion to compel arbitration on July 6 while simultaneously granting Soulbound Studios’ motion to transfer the litigation to the Western District of Washington. The remaining claims against Xsolla, the payment processor Soulbound used for purchases made through its online store, are stayed pending the result of arbitration, according to the minutes of a hearing on the motions. 

The proposed class action, filed against Soulbound Studios and Xsolla on February 2, claims the plaintiff, an Ohio resident, spent approximately $20,000 on downloadable content for Chronicles of Elyria, a game Soulbound promised to be a “unique and compelling quest system where personalized, procedurally-generated story arcs follow characters no matter where they go in the world.” As of the lawsuit’s filing, however, Chronicles of Elyria has yet to be developed, despite the fact that the game had been in pre-production for years and that Soulbound had allegedly collected more than $1.3 million through fundraising site Kickstarter and more than $6.6 million in sales through the studio’s online store to develop the title. 

According to the lawsuit, although Soulbound announced the launch date for Chronicles of Elyria to be between July and December 2019, the game, as of February 2021, had not come to fruition, and Soulbound’s CEO announced in March 2020 that production on the game had stopped indefinitely. 

“Plaintiff, and those similarly situated, have requested a refund and have not been provided any refund,” the complaint alleged. “As a result of this conduct, Defendants have profited from retaining the money [they are] required to refund to every person who, like Plaintiff, requested for a refund and did not receive it.”

Per the lawsuit, a July 2017 update from Soulbound included not only a timeline for the game’s release but a video with gameplay footage for Chronicles of Elyria. The plaintiff asserts, however, that the studio made no disclaimer that the video did not contain actual gameplay footage from the title, and showed instead only “cinematics” for the game. The delineation between real gameplay footage and cinematics is important, the plaintiff argued, because real footage would mean Soulbound had taken actual game development to show consumers progress, whereas cinematics can be made in a studio simply to post online. 

The lawsuit aims to cover a proposed class of all persons who bought downloadable Chronicles of Elyia content from Soulbound Studios and Xsolla in the last four years and who requested a refund where no game content had been delivered and did not receive a refund. 

Ultimately, Judge Wilson granted Xsolla’s motion to compel arbitration on the grounds that the company’s end-user license agreement, whose terms and conditions include an arbitration provision, was adequately disclosed to the plaintiff upon checkout. 

“The website language provided that the customer acknowledges and agrees to be bound by the [end-user license agreement] by submitting payment,” the minutes read. “Courts enforce internet contracts where the website contains ‘an explicit textual notice that continued use will act as a manifestation of the user’s intent to be bound.” 

Judge Wilson declined to send the claims against Xsolla to class-wide arbitration given the company’s arbitration provision does not provide for such, court documents add.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.