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Chronicles of Elyria
Developer(s)Soulbound Studios
Director(s)Jeromy Walsh
Designer(s)Jeromy Walsh
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online role-playing game[1]
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Chronicles of Elyria is a planned massively multiplayer online role-playing game for Microsoft Windows that has been in development by Soulbound Studios since 2016.[2] Production started after an initially successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter that raised $1.3 million. The studio subsequently raised an additional $7.7m via their website. The game was originally marked for an estimated December 2017 release, but this target was not met and nor have any subsequent timelines. In 2020 the studio announced that it would close, and laid-off of all of its staff.[3] It subsequently reopened later the same year.[4][5]

Following the closing of the studio a class action lawsuit was filed against the studio which was subsequently dismissed.[6][7][8]

As of October 2022, the game has been marked for release sometime in 2024.[6]

Development

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Chronicles of Elyria had a Kickstarter campaign from May 3 to June 3, 2016[4] raising $1.36 million, surpassing their goal of $900,000.

Subsequent to the Kickstarter fundraising multiple webstore special events were conducted, such as the Settlers Of Elyria, and Searing Plague events.[9][10] [11] By October 2019, the company had raised over $7.7M.[12]

Initial development saw various iterations and milestones declared as completed against a backdrop of needing to refactor the mechanics of alpha versions of the game (e.g. VoxElyria, Prelyria).[13] A major setback in development was the dropping of SpatialOS as their backend networking/game hosting software.[14]

Layoffs and hiatus

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After being delayed from its tentative December 2019 date, a special virtual land auction event called "Settlers of Elyria" was launched on March 12, 2020.[15] On March 20, Soulbound Studios released a pre-alpha, gray box demo showcasing parkour mechanics.[16] Four days later, Soulbound Studios announced the closure of the studio, complete staff layoffs and the indefinite hiatus of the project.[5] On April 9, Walsh released a new statement, claiming that his announcement was misinterpreted and that he would be pursuing continuing the project by having former staff members continue their work on a pro bono basis, while he would seek new sources of funding.[17] On June 26, Walsh released a post on the official site announcing that the transaction logs of users was now available (they were subsequently disabled when then the site was locked). He also stated that a new series of content will be posted on the site (and other media) "in the coming weeks".[18]

On December 17, 2020, Soulbound Studios released a video titled "Inside Chronicles of Elyria - Episode 1" that featured Walsh explaining the current state and future of the company and the game. The video claimed that an independent auditor verified that the revenue backers gave to the company was "properly spent on game development". It also claimed that much of the content developed during the four years of development was not at a point for public consumption, but that many back end features had progressed. Additionally, Walsh announced that the game was continuing active development.[19] Users can no longer make accounts or log in and, as of 2022, the game is no longer functional.[citation needed]

Class action lawsuit

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Following the announcement of Soulbound Studios' closure, days after a land auction, hundreds of backers of Chronicles of Elyria began to organize and explore legal avenues to take against Soulbound Studios and Walsh, in response to the perceived lack of delivery of a tangible product after years of development and millions of dollars in funding.[citation needed] Within days, the office of the attorney general of Washington had received hundreds of filed complaints – among the highest in the state's history.[20] The community around the lawsuit has also shown recent interest in including Xsolla in their lawsuit, accusing Xsolla of violating the terms of service that the backers who had purchased through their service agreed to, by refusing to refund them.[citation needed]

In April 2020 a class action lawsuit was filed in the Central District Court of California, seeking damages for alleged breach of contract, violation of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and unfair competition after an announcement was made that Soulbound Studios was closing, all staff had been laid off, and development on the game had ceased due to lack of funds.[21][22] The lawsuit was dismissed in October 2022.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About Chronicles of Elyria". Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Chalk, Andy (2016-06-01). "Upcoming MMO Chronicles of Elyria promises a fully-destructible world with non-repeating quests". pcgamer. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  3. ^ Suzie Ford (25 March 2020). "CHRONICLES OF ELYRIA ENDS DEVELOPMENT AFTER 4 YEARS & $8M IN CROWDFUNDING". gamespace.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  4. ^ a b "Chronicles of Elyria - Epic Story MMORPG with Aging & Death". kickstarter.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Caspian (25 March 2020). "State of Elyria: Into the Abyss". Community. Chronicles of Elyria. Retrieved 2020-04-03. But to our great sadness.... with the failure of Settlers of Elyria, and five long months of only limited crowdfunding revenue coming in, Soulbound Studios has officially run out of money. Last night I was forced to do something I never thought I'd have to do. I closed the online store, put the SoE map back into read-only mode, and laid off all the employees...
  6. ^ a b c "Chronicles of Elyria Class Action Dismissed, Walsh Does Victory Lap Over Backers In Latest Update" (website). mmorpg.com. 13 Oct 2022.
  7. ^ Weber, Steven (2022-10-15). "Opinion: Lawsuits Be Damned, Chronicles of Elyria is a Farce and Must End Now". MMORPG.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  8. ^ Marasigan, Marc (2022-10-14). "Class-Action Lawsuit Against Chronicles Of Elyria Studio And CEO Has Been Dismissed". MMOs.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  9. ^ Snipehunter (31 August 2019). "Settlers of Elyria is Coming!". Community. Chronicles of Elyria. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  10. ^ Damgaard, Althea "Briseadh" (November 18, 2018). "Chronicles of Elyria: The Searing Plague and Beyond". Gaiscioch Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18.
  11. ^ "Soulbound Studios Needs Around $3 Million More to Finish Chronicles of Elyria". MMOs.com. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  12. ^ "Chronicles of Elyria has raised $7.7 million from gamers to date". Massively Overpowered. 30 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  13. ^ Kaizen. "The Countdown to VoxElyria Begins". Blog. Chronicles of Elyria. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  14. ^ Altay, Omer (2018-01-13). "A Big Set Back - Chronicles of Elyria Drops SpatialOS". MMOs.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  15. ^ Neal, Chris (March 12, 2020). "Chronicles of Elyria kicks off its Settlers of Elyria virtual land auction for a second time". Massively Overpowered. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  16. ^ Shankar, Poorna (March 23, 2020). "Chronicles of Elyria Pre-Alpha Testing Has Started". MMORPG.com. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  17. ^ Royce, Bree (April 9, 2020). "Chronicles of Elyria boss says development is still ongoing, still seeking funding". Massively Overpowered. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  18. ^ Caspian (June 26, 2020). "The Way Forward: Update 1". News. Chronicles of Elyria. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  19. ^ "Inside Chronicles of Elyria - Episode 1 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  20. ^ Royce, Bree (April 7, 2020). "Disgruntled Chronicles of Elyria backers seek aid from the Washington attorney general". Massively Overpowered. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  21. ^ Marasigan, Marc (2021-04-08). "Chronicles Of Elyria Lawsuit Defendants Deciding If They Should Challenge The Complaint". MMOs.com. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  22. ^ Was The Game Ever Real ? - 8 Million Dollars Missing - The Chronicles of Elyria (YouTube). KiraTV. 2 Apr 2021.
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