Light & Wonder has admitted using “tainted game math” in connection with an undisclosed game title, according to new allegations from Aristocrat in their ongoing trade secrets litigation.
In a supplemental brief filed yesterday (19 August) in the Nevada federal court, Aristocrat claimed that Light & Wonder admitted on 8 August to using misappropriated mathematics after evidence was identified in discovery materials the supplier had produced the previous week.
The new allegations come amid explosive claims that Light & Wonder misappropriated trade secrets related to Aristocrat’s Dragon Train game mathematics, which has resulted in investor concerns over previous months.
Aristocrat argued the latest admissions demonstrate the need for additional discovery time as the current deadline approaches with less than six weeks remaining.
Aristocrat said: “While L&W denies that [redacted], L&W has refused to produce any documents (i.e., math and development files) that would allow Aristocrat to test L&W’s assertion.”
Light & Wonder cross-studio concerns raised
The filing revealed that the newly implicated game was developed by a different Light & Wonder studio than those responsible for other disputed titles.
Aristocrat argued this development “raises questions about how this other studio obtained Aristocrat’s math and what else they did with it.”
The case has been marked by extensive discovery disputes, with Aristocrat claiming Light & Wonder has failed to produce key evidence.
The filing stated that Light & Wonder “still has not provided other key discovery regarding the scope of L&W’s misappropriation, which continues to prevent Aristocrat from timely completing its investigation despite its diligence.”
Aristocrat alleged that Light & Wonder’s approach constituted deliberate delay tactics.
The company said: “L&W’s continued failure to produce the math for the games, or offer any explanation for the evidence, is a transparent effort to run out the clock.”
The filing also revealed complications with depositions of former Light & Wonder employees in Australia.
Three individuals are now challenging subpoenas after initially accepting service, with these proceedings unlikely to be resolved by the Australian court until September.
Outstanding discovery issues include Light & Wonder’s failure to produce additional Dragon Train accounting documents that purportedly total six terabytes of data.
Aristocrat also says Light & Wonder has also not provided a complete response to Interrogatory No. 22, which seeks identification of the final mathematics for each version of the accused games.