The post Light & Wonder Agrees to $127.5m Dragon Train Settlement With Aristocrat appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.
End of the line
Light & Wonder’s ambitions for its popular Dragon Train online slots brand are over after news emerged the Las Vegas-based global gaming supplier had reached a settlement with Aristocrat Leisure this week.
According to a press release on Monday, L&W has agreed to a settlement that includes paying Aristocrat US$127.5m and halting the development, distribution, marketing, and sales of Dragon Train and Jewel of the Dragon games globally.
“make best efforts” to remove existing installations of the Dragon games
Light & Wonder also agreed to “make best efforts” to remove existing installations of the Dragon games.
A joint statement revealed the pair agreed to settle lawsuits filed by Aristocrat in the US and Australia in 2023 upon L&G’s launch of Dragon Train. Aristocrat’s suits claimed its rival used its own “trade secrets and copyright works” to develop the two games.
Argument evaporates
Dragon Train quickly became one of L&W’s bestselling online slots games, so when Aristocrat claimed intellectual property theft, the firm met the challenge with a confident legal response.
The beginning of the end of the legal status quo, however, came in September when a US District Judge granted Aristocrat a preliminary injunction banning L&W from selling Dragon Train, stating it was “highly likely” the latter stole secrets from Aristocrat to build the game. After this ruling in Nevada, L&W fired its game designer, Emma Charles, a former Aristocrat employee.
Any lingering legal hopes L&W might have had were dashed in October, when courts granted a motion from Aristocrat to obtain discovery of math models L&W used for the contentious Dragon games.
In the joint press statement on Monday, Aristocrat stated that along with the settlement, L&W has formally acknowledged that it used certain Aristocrat math in connection with the two games, albeit unknowingly.
a former employee inappropriately used certain Aristocrat math without our knowledge”
Light & Wonder CEO Matt Wilson is quoted in the settlement statement as saying the IP infringement matter arose when “a former employee inappropriately used certain Aristocrat math without our knowledge and in direct violation of our policies.”
Wilson, however, said his firm was pleased to resolve the matter and would continue to develop and deliver “market-leading content […] without distraction or disruption.”
Credit where it is due
Contrast Wilson’s tone with that of Aristocrat CEO and Managing Director Trevor Croker. In Monday’s statement, the CEO said his firm would “always robustly defend and enforce” its IP rights and that Aristocrat was “committed to protecting the great work of our dedicated creative and technical teams.”
Acknowledging the significant payout, Croker said Aristocrat welcomed the settlement, and that it came after “the decisive action we took to ensure the preservation of Aristocrat’s valuable intellectual property assets.”
The post Light & Wonder Agrees to $127.5m Dragon Train Settlement With Aristocrat appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.
