AviaGames Target of Class Action Lawsuit Over Allegations That Skill Game Uses Playerbots
AviaGames develops and distributes so-called skill-based gaming applications that allow users to compete for real cash prizes. However, the proposed class action lawsuit claims that the company's games often use bots to defeat real players.
AviaGames is a Silicon Valley-based company led by co-founders Vickie Chen and Ping Wang. The company was founded in 2017 to compete directly with Skillz, a Las Vegas-based mobile app developer founded five years ago that dominates skill gaming apps market.
Plaintiffs Andrew Pandolfi of Texas and Mandi Shawcroft of Idaho filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District of Northern California on Friday alleging that they violated the law at AviaGames Play against bots in leading games like Bingo Tour and Pocket7Games. The plaintiffs accuse AviaGames of deceiving consumers and controlling the outcomes of games it purportedly played between two people.
Avia's games were not games of skill as advertised, but rigged games of chance that amounted to unlicensed gambling. The proposed class action lawsuit states that the purpose of the lawsuit is to hold "defendants accountable for their deceptive conduct and extortionate gambling enterprise."
Real money casino gambling is legal in only six states, including New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Michigan, and West Virginia. Avia and Skillz circumvent gambling laws by offering skill-based products similar to traditional board games.
Skill Game Opponent
AviaGames and Skillz apps offer unique twists on classic games like Bingo, Solitaire, Blackjack and Tetris, incorporating skill elements to keep the product legitimate. Nine states, including Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Montana, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont, ban skill gaming apps from accepting cash deposits from players.
Skillz claims in its lawsuit against Avia that its main competitor copied its digital products and lured users to its platform by shortening the time it takes for players to be matched in games. While Skillz players often report having to wait up to 15 minutes for the app to find their opponents, Avia users say the process usually happens at about the same time.
Skillz was the first to accuse Avia of alleged use of bots. In September, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman agreed to provide Skillz with confidential communications between AviaGames executives and their attorneys that "appear to indicate that AviaGames is using bots in its Pocket7Games platform." .
Litigation Allegations
Pandolfi and Shawcroft are working to recoup their losses and include more victims in the lawsuit.
Lawyers representing them claimed that AviaGames repeatedly assured players that they were playing games of skill with other real people. The company claims that its games are not gambling and that users are not betting against the house, which is the company.
AviaGames says it simply acts as a facilitator of gaming events and takes a commission, similar to what fantasy sports companies or casinos charge on poker games.
"Recently uncovered evidence suggests that Avia lied to its customers and that players were actually playing a game of chance against computer bots," the lawsuit states.
Many Avia players report that after an initial win, they suffer long periods of defeat. Others say they win much more on Skillz than on Avia.
Avia executives deny the accusations.
The allegations against AviaGames are baseless and the company is focused on supporting our diverse, growing and very happy community of gamers and addressing these false accusations through legal action at the right time and place, which we are confident "will prevail" . Read the company statement.
Pandolfi and Shawcroft's cases are scheduled for initial case management conferences on February 21, 2024.
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Source: www.casino.org