Court signs off on IGT and DoubleDown social casino settlement

Cell phone surrounded by multi-colored casino chips
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More than nine months after IGT and social casino company DoubleDown Interactive agreed to a class action settlement in Washington, a judge has signed off on the terms of the deal, including $415 million in settlement payments.

Two Washington women initially put together the class action suit against IGT, which previously owned DoubleDown Interactive before selling off the asset in 2017 for $825 million.

The lawsuit alleged that DoubleDown, though a social casino, violated the state’s gambling laws. The play money chips could be purchased on the casino. Given the very specific state law prohibiting online gambling in the state, the women put together a class action consisting of Washington’s DoubleDown players. The South Korean company DoubleU Games purchased the social casino company.

The terms of the settlement will require IGT to pay $269.75 million of the sum with DoubleDown providing the remaining $145.25 million.

The lawyer for the plaintiffs, Todd Logan of Edelson PC. He told Reuters that, with this settlement, he has generated over $651 million in class action payouts related to social casinos. Reuters reported that Edelson will keep around 29% of the payouts in legal fees.

During its Q2 2022 report, IGT noted it was preparing to settle and had earmarked $150 million of earnings for a potential payout.

District Judge Robert Lasnik approved the terms of the settlement last week. He called the terms of the settlement “fair, reasonable, and adequate”. While the companies agreed to pay the settlement, they deny they were in violation of the law and maintain the company’s innocence.

Washington is a state many social and sweepstake casinos avoid operating in altogether specifically because of the state’s gambling laws.