Light & Wonder is responding to a court order regarding the sidelining of a popular slot game.
The slot supplier is developing a new version of its Dragon Train slot game, which has been at the center of a contentious court battle with Aristocrat. Earlier this year, Aristocrat sued Light & Wonder in a Nevada federal court over claims of copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, deceptive trade practices, and unfair competition.
In the suit, Aristocrat accused Light & Wonder of orchestrating a campaign to copy its Dragon Link title through the hiring of former Aristocrat execs and game designers.
Light & Wonder’s Dragon Train game also had similar elements to Aristocrat’s Dragon Link. The similar elements between the two slot games include math allocation and gameplay.
Light & Wonder is developing a new version of the title after it was ordered by the Nevada District Court to pull Dragon Train off the market pending a final ruling on the case. Judge Gloria Navarro sided with Aristocrat believing the company provided sufficient evidence to prove the existence of trade secrets. Navarro cited the hiring of former Aristocrat engineer and Dragon Train development team member Emma Charles by Light & Wonder.
According to Light & Wonder CEO Matt Wilson, the company is responding to the order to pull Dragon Train by developing a new version of the title that’s meets market standards. Light & Wonder previously attempted to have the suit dismissed but was unsuccessful.
“We’re working actively on this right now and working quickly to get this out as high priority,” said Wilson when addressing Light & Wonder’s dispute with Aristocrat. “We expect Dragon Train to continue to be a franchise in our portfolio for many years to come.”
Light & Wonder bringing new Dragon Train to US
Light & Wonder is redeveloping Dragon Train after recently launching the slot game in North American markets following commercial success in Australia. Since Light & Wonder brought the game to the U.S., roughly 2,200 gaming machines host the title.
Light & Wonder is actively pulling the old version of Dragon Train from those machines but despite its success in Australia, the slot game is no longer available in the market.
“New games are expected to fill our sales pipeline and we want to make sure we capture as much of that opportunity in Q4 and beyond as we start to scale the full versions of these products,” added Wilson.
Light & Wonder has also decided to part ways with the former designer of Dragon Train amid its court battle with Aristocrat. Despite the legal woes, the Las Vegas-based supplier projects to reach its 2025 consolidated EBITDA target of $1.4 billion.
