Ken Lord was one of those fans, and an early backer of Star Citizen. He’s got a Golden Ticket, a mark on his account that singles him out as an early member of the community. Between April 2013 and April 2018, Ken pledged $4,495 to the project. The game still isn’t out, and Lord wants his money back. RSI wouldn’t refund it, so Lord took the developer to small-claims court in California.
On June 13, 2018, a judge ruled in favor of Star Citizen. According to Lord—and the LA county court records—the judge dismissed the case without prejudice, saying an arbitration clause buried in the Star Citizen end-user license agreement prevented Lord, or anyone, from taking RSI to court for a refund on a game that some backers think may never come out.
I suppose a class action lawyer might be able to find some jurisdiction in which they were taking money and running afoul of consumer protection laws.
Thing is, I think that a class action lawyer is going to want to go after someone with money, and when CIG runs out of funds, I don’t expect that they’re going to be a very interesting target.
Apparently the EULA blocked them from lawsuits, as people have tried suing them before.
This guy tried suing them six years back over his $4500.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/star-citizen-court-documents-reveal-the-messy-reality-of-crowdfunding-a-dollar200-million-game/
I suppose a class action lawyer might be able to find some jurisdiction in which they were taking money and running afoul of consumer protection laws.
Thing is, I think that a class action lawyer is going to want to go after someone with money, and when CIG runs out of funds, I don’t expect that they’re going to be a very interesting target.