Agency Takes Horseplay to Court, Seeks Damages for Misappropriated Secrets

RWV LLC is taking mobile gaming operator Horseplay to court over alleged trade secret misappropriation. According to the former company, the casino secured a major partnership thanks to RWV, without compensating the firm.

Horseplay Secured Deal with Famous YouTuber

The complaint was filed on September 18, insisting that Horseplay penned a partnership with RWV, only to end it a few weeks later. Despite ending the tie-up, however, Horseplay had benefitted from RWV’s contact network, allowing it to strike a landmark partnership with Jason “Mr Hand Pay” Boehlke, a famous gaming content creator.

In its complaint, RWV insisted that the deal with Mr Hand Pay, which channeled thousands of new players to Horseplay, was possible thanks to its own contacts and customer acquisition strategies. The complaint explained that RWV’s owner, Robert Venech, had strong ties to Mr Hand Pay and played a role in the online celebrity’s rise to prominence.

For context, Mr Hand Pay has 1.08 million followers on YouTube as of the time of this writing.

RVW Says Horseplay Exploited Its Network without Paying

Since the partnership between RWV and Horseplay was ended early, the former company was never compensated for its role in the partnership with Mr Hand Pay. Originally, RWV was set to receive $37.50 for each new player account made as a result of the agreement. The company was also set to receive 15% of all relevant net gaming revenue in the first year and 10% in the second year. Finally, Horseplay should have been paying a $5,000 fee for each onboarded influencer.

According to RWV’s complaint, Horseplay originally said that it doesn’t think it can continue the conversations with Mr Hand Pay. As a result, it ended its agreement with RWV. However, on the very next day, Horseplay decided to join forces with Mr Hand Pay after all.

While Horseplay had promised to honor the original agreement, RWV insisted that it had received no compensation once the deal between Horseplay and Mr Hand Pay became a reality in January 2025.

The Agency Is Seeking Damages

RWV is now seeking damages as per the Defend Trade Secrets Act, alleging that Horseplay exploited its short-lived agreement with the firm to secure a lucrative partnership.

The agency hopes to reclaim $375,000, based on the 10,000 new player accounts that have been created thanks to the deal with Mr Hand Pay. RWV is also seeking $135,000 in damages based on HorsePlay’s estimated net gaming revenue.

The complaint noted that this isn’t the first time Horseplay has seemingly refused to pay service providers, such as agencies and recruiters.