Big Fish Games Faces Class Action Suit for Illegal Gambling

Big Fish Games has been the subject of a class action lawsuit for their illegal gambling practices
used in their mobile apps.
The Seattle-based app developer was filed with a complaint at the District Court in Western
Washington. The complaint, filed on February 11, states that Big Fish Games makes online
casino games that are free-to-play; however, they do not pay anything of monetary value despite
employing similar practices with casinos.
How Do You Play the Game?
First, players are given a limited set of virtual chips free of charge so you can have your initial
bets. The players are able to use these chips for various casino-style games such as slot
machines.
Once the chips run out, players can no longer play these games until they buy more virtual chips
with cash, otherwise known as an in-app purchase. Some chips can be bought for as low as 99
cents, but sometimes, the purchases can skyrocket to up to a thousand dollars.
Unlike other free-to-play applications, Big Fish Games’ app does not allow players to recover
their lives or credits after waiting for a certain period of time. The only way to accumulate chips
is by winning wagers, or by buying them.
Similar to Casinos
The complaint further states that the app developer is doing the same thing with other casinos,
which is to exploit psychological triggers in order to induce their customers into purchasing more
chips. It is much worse as players are induced to win games despite not even having payouts of
monetary value.
There are those who do not spend a penny playing the game, but there are others who spend a lot
just to win. These people are called “whales,” and casinos also use them in order to make a
fortune.
While whales make up only a minute amount of the total number of players, they also constitute
half of the revenue these mobile apps make.
The complaint also states that online casino apps such as the ones developed by Big Fish Games
only make it worse for gambling addicts. These gambling addicts would merely transition from
casino game apps to online gambling.
Big Fish Games’ leading app is Big Fish Casino, which rakes in $100 million ever year. This
constitutes half of their total revenue ($200 million) of all their combined casino games.
Previously, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that Big Fish Games’ practices
constituted illegal gambling when it was owned by a different corporation.
As of the moment, Big Fish Games has not yet responded to the case.