The California Attorney General ordered Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games to refund the money after it initially refused.
Crowdfunding is pretty hit-and-miss. Sometimes you get in on the ground floor of something magical, and other times people will literally steal your money, or the product evolves into something you don’t want anymore. For many Star Citizen fans, the latter has become true, especially for backer “Streetroller” who dropped over two grand on the project when it first started, but wanted out following the game’s change in scope and lengthy delays. Despite being initially refused a refund from the developer, Streetroller dug deep, getting the California Attorney General, the FTC and the DCBA involved in order to get his money back.
The whole exchange, which went down on the Something Awful Forums, details Streetroller’s journey to get his $2,560 refund. He first requested a refund from CIG on June 14, stating that Star Citizen “remains unfulfilled and no longer constitutes the product(s) I originally purchased”. CIG refused his request, pointing to the following passage in the terms of service:
“For the avoidance of doubt, in consideration of [Roberts Space Industry’s] good faith efforts to develop, produce, and deliver the Game with the funds raised, you agree that any Pledge amounts applied against the Pledge Item Cost and the Game Cost shall be non-refundable regardless of whether or not RSI is able to complete and deliver the Game and/or the pledge items.”
Streetroller argued that he never agreed to these terms of service, as they have changed from the original terms of service that he agreed to when he first made his pledge. The original TOS says that refunds can only be requested 18 months after the game’s estimated delivery date. Star Citizen‘s initial ETA was November 2014, and eighteen months after that would put us at May, 2016.
Streetroller then reached out to the LA district attorney the FTC and LA Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. The DA immediately contacted CIG, which refunded Streetroller $900 on June 23. But, he wasn’t satisfied with that: he wanted all his money back. After a few back-and-forths between these regulatory associations and CIG, he was able to get the vast majority of his refund.
Additionally, The DCBA also told Streetroller they urged others to come forward and file a complaint against CIG regarding refund policy.
So, if you want a Star Citizen refund, get in touch with your local DCBA!
Source: PC Games N
