What legal options do I have if my partner took my share of online game earnings and disappeared after we agreed to split profits?

Criminal Law

Liz

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If Ron intentionally deceived you by faking account terminations and reactivating them to take your share, this could be considered fraudulent behavior. Fraud involves a false representation made knowingly, without belief in its truth, or recklessly, causing someone to act upon it. (18 U.S.C. § 1343)

Also, even though you don't have a formal written contract, your direct messages agreeing on a 50% revenue share can be considered a binding agreement. (Fed. R. Evid. 901)

A breach occurs when one party fails to fulfill their part of the agreement. Since you have outside communications, you may be able to track him using his PayPal and Discord accounts.

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I have four developer accounts within a gaming community where games are uploaded. The thief and I had a deal: I would be the co-owner and ads runner for 50% of the income. I accepted that offer, and we pulled in 10 million Robux, which is roughly $37,995.00. I never received my half, which was 5 million Robux or $18,997.50.

The thief (Ron) faked his accounts being terminated, which he just deactivated, to fool me. He then reactivated his accounts, paid out my share to himself, and went ghost. I spent roughly $1,000 out of my own pocket and developed the games with him. The earnings were stored in a separate community account that functioned as a vault.

Lexi, Chatbot

I'm sorry to hear about your situation; it sounds very frustrating to deal with a breach of trust. Can you tell me if you have any written agreements or contracts regarding the revenue sharing with Ron?

Not a contract, but we do have direct messages of us agreeing on 50% shares. We worked together on Roblox.

Lexi, Chatbot

Have you attempted to contact any platform support or authorities regarding this issue?

Platform support: yes, but they won’t take any action. Authorities: no.

Lexi, Chatbot

Is there anything else the lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they'll be able to help with your income dispute.

Yes.

Liz

Hi there! My name is Liz and I’ve been an attorney for more than a decade, and I am here to assist with your legal concerns. So I can best help, do you know the other party outside the gaming community?

I do not know them in person or their personal information. I know they have ID verification on Roblox which an attorney could get with a letter.

Liz

An attorney would actually require what is called a subpoena for that information, which would require an open case. For that, they could do what is called a John Doe suit, which then substitutes in the correct party once their information is provided. Have you been to any attorneys?

I have requested a consultation. This is all new, and I want to provide and get the most information possible. I have a PDF with just about all the information.

Liz

I understand. In your PDF, did you save the messages with the deal you made?

Yes, I did.

Liz

That can be very helpful. Did you ever communicate outside Roblox?

On the Discord site, we connected, and I paid him once via PayPal.

Liz

Also, even though you don't have a formal written contract, your direct messages agreeing on a 50% revenue share can be considered a binding agreement. (Fed. R. Evid. 901)

A breach occurs when one party fails to fulfill their part of the agreement. Since you have outside communications, you may be able to track him using his PayPal and Discord accounts.

Okay, that sounds good. Where should I go from here?

Liz

You mentioned that you have a consultation scheduled?

Yes, that's if they get back to me.

Liz

You could also consider a private investigator, who could work on tracking down the other party.

That is a good idea, I will do that. Once I find out about him, where do you think this civil suit could go?

Liz

With it being all online, are you sure the other party is over 18?

I believe he's recently turned 18. If not, what could that mean?

Liz

If Ron is under 18, it could complicate things as minors can't enter into legally binding contracts in most jurisdictions. However, if he's recently turned 18, he can be bound by your agreement.

Our agreement wasn't a contract, though.

Liz

Apologies, how was it not a contract? A verbal agreement can form a contract, and if you want to enforce it, usually it has to be a contract.

What happens if he is underaged?

Liz

You'd have to sue his parents.

How much trouble would a lawyer go through to get a subpoena?

Liz

The subpoena can actually be issued by the attorney, which means it just needs to be drafted and signed with notice to the other parties. It does though require the open civil case. I hope I was able to help! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Thank you for being so helpful. I'll ask more questions soon for sure.

Liz

You're very welcome.

Liz

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