A Nevada court has reversed an earlier legal ruling by granting a motion from Aristocrat to obtain discovery of math models for certain Hold N’ Spin games released by rival Light & Wonder since 2021.
The motion relates to the period in which former Aristocrat game designer Emma Charles was working with Light & Wonder. Charles was let go by Light & Wonder last year after the US District Court of Nevada granted Aristocrat a preliminary injunction on the basis that it was extremely likely Light & Wonder had misappropriated Aristocrat’s trade secrets in developing its hit “Dragon Train” series. Light & Wonder also revealed in April that it would stop commercializing its Jewel of the Dragon series and that another unreleased game would not be put to market due to similar concerns over the IP.
Light & Wonder was first to reveal this latest ruling, issuing a statement on Friday in which it said, “While we are disappointed with the Court’s ruling, we remain confident, based on the expert review we previously disclosed, that there is no evidence of Aristocrat math being used in any commercially released games other than ‘Dragon Train’ and ‘Jewel of the Dragon’.“
The court had previously stated that Light & Wonder did not need to disclose the math models behind its Hold N’ Spin game titles and that Aristocrat must detail any trade secrets it is looking to protect.
