Amazon has been accused of distributing games from over 30 virtual casinos and placing its customers in danger, according to a lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed by a man from Nevada who claims to have an addiction to the virtual casino apps in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Lawyers representing the plaintiff in Steve Horn, v Amazon.com Inc are seeking “restitution, damages, injunctive relief, and other appropriate relief from Amazon’s ongoing participation in an illegal internet gambling enterprise”.
Amazon is also accused of misleading players about free-to-play games in order to “smuggle slot machines into the homes of consumers throughout the United States, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year.”
A Chicago firm named Edelson is pursuing the case and has “hundreds of millions of dollars in class-action settlements” in the social casino space, and is citing 2018 case law that bans social casinos in Washington.
Edleson states that Amazon is aware that social casinos are illegal but that the ecommerce giant “continues to maintain a 30% financial interest in the upside by brokering the slot machine games, driving customers to them, and acting as the bank.”
The law firm claims that there are tens of thousands of consumers who have been affected by these social casinos.
Amazon has yet to respond to the filing and has declined to comment to reports on the lawsuit.
Social casinos have been deemed illegal in Washington and this year saw the conclusion of a large case in which IGT and Double Down Interactive were forced to pay $269m in a settlement relating to operating such games.
