Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown filed a lawsuit in state court this week against Aristocrat and Playtika, alleging that the two companies and their subsidiaries are operating unlicensed social casino apps that equate to gambling.
Stressing that Washington has a statewide ban on all online gambling activities, the King County Superior Court filing dated Feb. 3 claims that the two companies have allowed state residents to spend more than $225 million over the last five years on “gambling activities that are banned in the state.”
The filing names various Playtika-branded companies as well as Aristocrat Leisure, Aristocrat Technologies and the company’s Product Madness, Big Fish Games, Plarium and Pixel United gaming subsidiaries as defendants. Washington and Brown are seeking a declaration that the companies’ operations violate Washington’s Gambling Act and Consumer Protection Act, as well as a preliminary and/or permanent injunction, civil penalties and other restitution.
SBC Americas reached out to Aristocrat for comment. A spokesperson on behalf of Product Madness said that while the complaint asserts that Product Madness’ social casino apps do not comply with Washington gambling and consumer protection laws, “Product Madness denies the allegations and intends to vigorously defend the action.”
Companies know the rules, states Attorney General
The lawsuit says the two companies run 16 apps between them that more than 150,000 Washingtonians use every month. Playtika operates nine of the 16 sites, including ones branded under the World Series of Poker, Monopoly Poker and Bingo Blitz, while Aristocrat entities run seven including Big Fish Casino, Jackpot Magic Slots, Heart of Vegas and NFL Superbowl Slots Casino.
“While Defendants’ Casino Apps are free to download and access, defendants make enormous sums of money from players purchasing coins, chips, and/or credits to gamble with,” states the suit. “Collectively, Washington players have made over eight million purchases and spent over $151 million buying coins, chips or credits in Playtika’s casino apps since September 2020. That averages to more than $35 million a year. As for Aristocrat, Washington players have made over 2.25 million purchases and spent over $74 million buying coins in their casino apps since September 2020. That averages to approximately $1.6 million a month.”
Washington claims that the companies know that these offerings constitute gambling, pointing to a 2018 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that determined that virtual currency used in casino apps counted as “a thing of value” under Washington gambling law. AG Brown also suggested Playtika and Aristocrat both should be well aware of this, as both Playtika and Big Fish Games settled class-action lawsuits in the past in the state.
The suit also states that the companies must know or have reason to know that at least some of their players suffer from gambling addiction or disorder or are suffering real harms from participating in gambling activities within the apps, citing several customer support messages sent by players to the sites.
Some sites specifically target children, alleges Washington
Washington’s lawsuit also alleges that at least some of the sites do not implement age verification or limitations on who can access the games. In particular, it states that while Playtika’s terms of service state that it requires users to be 21 years old, the age restriction is not enforced.
The suit goes even further by alleging that some of Playtika’s sites are designed specifically to appeal to children as a target audience.
“In fact, for at least some of Playtika’s casino apps, Playtika targets children in its advertising and promotion, as well as in the game’s design,” said Washington’s filing. It noted examples such as “cartoon-like game play”, “child-like themes” and characters that resemble Disney or Pixar animals or other characters from children’s movies and/or television shows.
Bingo Blitz also has a YouTube channel with “content akin to children’s television, added the AG’s office. It also stated that some users report that their children use their parents’ phones to play apps like Bingo Blitz, spending hundreds of dollars in the process.
