Lawsuit Targets Aristocrat in Australia over Social Casino Games

The leading gambling machines supplier and iGaming operator listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, Aristocrat Leisure, was named defendant in a new class-action lawsuit in Australia filed recently. The legal action is funded by Litigation Capital Management and brought by William Roberts Lawyers.

As announced by the Australian Financial Review, the legal claim alleges that Aristocrat’s popular “social casino” games are in breach of the gambling laws in the country. The plaintiff claims that Aristocrat misled technology firms by claiming that the aforementioned social casino games comply with laws in the country.

Moreover, the lawsuit alleged that the popular social casino games do not offer financial or time limits for the players, nor display what are the odds of winning. The legal claim deemed the popular games as gambling products that should be regulated under the same laws as the poker machines found in pubs and clubs across the country.

Additionally, the lawsuit claimed that Aristocrat’s social casino apps leverage the same technique to engage with the players and feel the same way as retail poker machines do. Per the recently filed class-action lawsuit: “The pairing of audiovisual stimuli with the experience of winning virtual currency so as to make users psychologically conditioned to perceive a successful outcome … has the result of releasing dopamine.”

Social casino games are an increasingly popular form of entertainment. Although players of those games cannot win real money, they can prolong their play or increase their chances of winning virtual currency by buying tokens or coins with real money.

Some of Aristocrat’s popular social casino games are Heart of Vegas and Lightning Link, among others.

Aristocrat Disputes the Allegations, Says It Will Defend Vigorously

The recent legal action isn’t the first one Aristocrat is facing over its online games. Previously, the company’s social casino games fell under scrutiny in the United States a few times in the past.

A spokesperson for Aristocrat rejected the claims that deemed its social casino games as gambling products. The spokesperson added that the company is prepared to “vigorously defend” in the lawsuit.

“We firmly reject the core contention that social-casino themed mobile games are gambling,“

explains a spokesperson for Aristocrat

Moreover, they said that social casino games are offered purely for entertainment purposes. According to the spokesperson, such games do not meet the definition of a gambling product under Australian laws.

Finally, Aristocrat’s representative explained that players of social casino games can temporarily suspend their account or even terminate it, while an option to disable in-app purchases with real money is also available.