Playtika, Caesars Interactive Online Slot Games Illegal in Washington, Class Action Says

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The plaintiff behind a proposed class action filed in Washington—a state where online gambling is prohibited—claims Playtika, Ltd and Caesars Interactive Entertainment, LLC’s online slot machine games are illegal under state law.

The case explains the defendants’ games of chance offer users an initial free bundle of 20,000 coins that can be used to place bets. Once these coins are inevitably gone, the suit says, users can then buy more coins via in-app micro-transactions—7,500 coins for $2, or 320,000 coins for $50, for instance, depending on which of the defendants’ gaming apps a user downloads.

At the heart of the lawsuit is the argument that the defendants’ games are bona fide games of chance disguised as free-to-play games that allow users to perform in-app microtransactions should they so desire.

These purported free games, the case says, generated in 2017 more than $3.8 billion worldwide for developers on the back of micro-transactions.

“The revenue [the defendants] receive from Playtika’s online casino games are the result of operating unlawful games of chance camouflaged as innocuous [video games],” the complaint alleges.

According to the complaint, class members have legal recourse in that Washington’s “recovery of money lost at gambling” statute stipulates that “all persons losing money or anything of value at or on any illegal gambling games shall have a cause of action to recover from the dealer or player winning, or from the proprietor for whose benefit such game was played or dealt, or such money or things of value won, the amount of the money or the value of the thing so lost.”

From the complaint:

“Defendant’s online casino games are illegal gambling games because they are online games at which players wager things of value (the coins) and by an element of chance (e.g., by spinning an online slot machine) are able to obtain additional entertainment and extend gameplay (by winning additional coins).”