After an amended complaint by Aristocrat in its copyright infringment lawsuit against Light & Wonder, the slot studio is pulling a second title out of an abundance of caution.
150 Jewel of the Dragon titles pulled from casinos
Light & Wonder announced on Wednesday that it is pulling roughly 150 Jewel of the Dragon slots from gaming floors. The company explained its rationale in a release:
“In light of this claim, we made the decision to voluntarily stop commercializing and offer to replace Jewel of the Dragon to minimize any confusion and potential disruption to our customers. We are seeking to ensure our customers are not affected by the ongoing legal process. The success we had in rapidly replacing the Dragon Train units, and the strong game performance of our broader portfolio, give us confidence that this is the best course of action for our customers at this point as we continue to build great games. For context, Jewel of the Dragon’s Premium installed base footprint is less than one percent (1%) of the total Premium installed base in North America, with approximately 150 premium leased units.”
On a call explaining the decision, Light & Wonder representatives said the game accounted for mid single-digit millions in annual revenue.
Game pulled out of caution about math model
Light & Wonder said that an audit of titles indicated an early math model of Jewel of the Dragon could be in question given the math of the original game in question, Dragon Train, is under legal scrutiny as a result of the original lawsuit. Light & Wonder added that later versions of the game did not include these math models but pulled the game out of caution nonetheless.
Aristocrat, however, said in its complaint that the similarities between Jewel of the Dragon as well as another L&W title, Double Dragon, extend beyond the math model developed by former employee Emma Charles for the Aristocrat title Dragon Link.
“L&W’s misappropriation of Aristocrat trade secrets extends well beyond the use of confidential Aristocrat math information to develop Dragon Train. Aristocrat’s information has been widely disseminated throughout L&W and has been used by L&W employees to develop other games,” the amended complaint argues.
Amended complaint alleges trade secrets involved in both games
In addition to allegedly copying the feel of Dragon Link gameplay and its hold and spin feature, Aristocrat argues that the font and logo design was done with the intention of misleading customers.
The original Aristocrat suit focused solely on Dragon Train and the courts granted a preliminary injunction requiring Light & Wonder to pull the game from casino floors and online platforms. Light & Wonder said it conducted an internal review and concluded that Charles, who was hired by the company after leaving Aristocrat, breached her employment obligations while working on Dragon Train for the company.
The injunction also included an audit of other titles for potential issues. Light & Wodner hired Mark Nicely to conduct that third-part audit and says there are no other issues related to hold and spin games released from mid 2021 to the present.
Aristocrat says new Dragon Train social game not OK
Light & Wonder is currently in the process of redeveloping Dragon Train and has released a social gaming version, Dragon Train Grand Central. While Light & Wonder contends the game does not involve any trade secrets at the heart of the original game’s case, Aristocrat argues that the title is nonetheleless reaping the benefits derived from the alleged misconduct by leveraging the original game’s title and goodwill.
Light & Wonder received an extension and has until April 11 to respond to Aristocrat’s amended complaint, which was filed on March 14. Nevada District Court Judge Gloria Navarro already ruled that the intiial complaint can largely move forward, denying most of Light & Wonder’s motion to dismiss.
