AviaGames, the Silicon Valley-based developer of popular casino apps such as Bingo Tour and Solitaire Clash, is facing a class action lawsuit alleging users were tricked into playing against bots instead of similarly skilled human players. was woken up.

“Avia users collectively wagered hundreds of millions of dollars to compete in what Avia claims is a game of ‘skill’ against other human users,” according to a lawsuit filed Friday in the Northern District of California. .

“But as it turns out, the entire premise of Avia’s platform is wrong. Rather than competing with real humans, Avia’s computers are not competing with real humans, but rather with computer “bots” that can influence and control the outcome of games. Input and/or control the game. ” the lawsuit alleged.

The stakes are high because Avia’s products are among the most popular apps on Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play Store, according to the complaint.

At the time of Friday’s filing, Avia’s Solitaire Crash, Bingo Crush, and Bingo Tour were the second, fourth, and seventh-ranked apps in the casino category, according to the complaint.

“Avia’s games are games of chance and constitute an unauthorized gambling operation,” the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed by Andrew Pandolfi of Texas, who estimates he has lost thousands of dollars on Avia games. And Mandy Shawcroft of Idaho says she has lost hundreds of people.

This includes all other affected players who participate in the game using the Pocket7Games app, which can be used to access multiple casino games.

AviaGames is a privately held company based in Mountain View, California, which recently raised cash from investors in 2021 in a deal that valued the company at $620 million.

According to Sensor Tower, it has 3.5 million monthly active users.

AviaGames did not respond to calls regarding the class action lawsuit.

The player’s lawsuit follows a patent and copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Avia rival Skillz Games against AviaGames in 2021, which is still pending in court after the alleged use of bots came to light. be.

Skillz says that because AviaGames is actually a bot, it can quickly match players for its games and take market share away from Skillz, which allows customers to wait up to 15 minutes for an opposing human player. claims.

Skillz’s lawsuit against AviaGames took a turn in late May when, during discovery, AviaGames turned over nearly 20,000 documents covering internal communications in Chinese, according to court filings. Skillz translated them and allegedly found evidence that AviaGames was using bots.

Skillz is seeking communications between AviaGames and its lawyers regarding the bot, and according to court filings, Judge Freeman last week set standards for viewing some of the communications that Skillz was required to turn over to AviaGames by Friday. The court ruled that the requirements were met.

Andrew Labott Bluestone, a New York City medical malpractice attorney who is not involved in the AviaGames case, said the law gives plaintiffs the right to give judges access to lawyer-client communications. He said it was rare.

“judge [who reviews the privileged information first] You must find out why a crime or fraud may have been committed. ”

If a defendant is asking how to protect themselves from charges of crime or fraud, it’s about protecting attorney-client communications. However, a judge can unseal it if the judge determines that the conversation involves fraud or facilitation of a crime that has not yet taken place.

“You need to understand that the defendant was seeking advice on how to avoid getting caught.”

Asked last month about allegations that the company’s app uses bots, an AviaGames spokesperson responded in writing.

“The allegations against AviaGames are baseless and we are committed to supporting our diverse, growing, and very satisfied community of gamers and addressing these false claims at the appropriate time and place in the legal process. We are confident that we will prevail in this case.”

“While we are unable to comment on the details of ongoing litigation at this time, the charges brought are baseless and AviaGames looks forward to refuting these unjust and baseless accusations in court.”

“AviaGames stands behind its IP, unique game technology, game design, and management team integrity. Avia provides an accessible, reliable, and high-quality mobile gaming experience for all players. We are the only skill-based game publisher that offers a seamless, all-in-one platform for

Some players have long suspected that the game is rigged. There is a Pocket7Games/AviaGames = Scam Facebook group.

“Because Pocket7Games is blocking people who are speaking honestly about their fraudulent practices, we felt it necessary to create a group to hold them accountable for their actions and warn others.” said group organizer Caitlin Cohen on Facebook.

“It’s completely cheating. After you are cheated the first time and win, you are placed in a win or lose slot after you get your score. They pick who wins in the group matches and the one-on-one games. ” Gretchen Woods said on Quora in March. “Sometimes you see common players that you’re matching up with. That’s a sign that they’re manipulating the outcome.”

Source: nypost.com