Papaya Gaming Hit With Proposed Class-Action Lawsuit for Alleged Bot Use
Posted on: April 19, 2024, 08:49h.
Last updated on: April 19, 2024, 06:40h.
A proposed class-action lawsuit against Israel-based Papaya Gaming on the alleged use of bots in the company’s interactive skill gaming products has been filed in Southern New York United States District Court.
Fresh off a February lawsuit against AviaGames in which a jury awarded Skillz Gaming nearly $42.9 million after determining that AviaGames infringed on Skillz’s patent-protected platform, Skillz attorneys turned their attention to Papaya. Skillz is suing Payapa in federal court over the alleged use of computer bots.
In a separate federal complaint provided this week to Casino.org by law firm Burns Charest, LLP, plaintiff Brenna Kelly-Starkebaum, on behalf of a proposed class, also alleges that players aren’t actually competing against other humans on Papaya’s games such as Solitaire Cash and Bubble Cash. Kelly-Starkebaun’s complaint was filed late last month.
“Papaya is a leading provider of online games where users purportedly compete in games of skill against other real people for money. Papaya claims to have no vested interest in who wins or loses,” the complaint begins.
Papaya users collectively have wagered hundreds of millions of dollars to compete in these games of ‘skill’ against what Papaya misleadingly advertises are other actual human users. However, Papaya controls the outcome of the games and uses its own bots to play against players to win, after which Papaya keeps the prize money for itself,” the lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial for the proposed class.
Papaya Gaming stated Casino.org denying any wrongdoing.
Papaya is one of the world’s largest skills-based mobile game developers — on a mission to bring more fun challenges to the world. We are absolutely committed to fair and enjoyable skills-based mobile gaming that rewards the abilities of our players. This legal action has no merit, and we will vigorously defend against any and all baseless claims,” the Papaya release said.
Alleged Bot Use Widespread
Kelly-Starkebaum’s attorneys argue that Papaya players aren’t competing peer-to-peer but against Papaya’s bots. For the facilitation of the supposedly head-to-head skill game contests, Papaya charges a small commission, not unlike how a casino does while running a poker game.
Papaya claims to use “the smartest tech” to pair players with similar skill sets. The company claims to “have no vested interest in who wins or loses.”
“It’s not about chance. It’s about skills,” Papaya contends. Kelly-Starkebaum says otherwise.
Papaya’s games are not skill-based and users are often not playing against live, actual opponents but against Papaya’s own bots that direct and rig the game so that Papaya itself wins its users’ money while leading them to believe that they lost to a live human opponent,” the complaint reads.
The lawsuit details a tech-savvy user who signed up for Papaya’s games and devised his own bot to win on his behalf. But his bot won just 8.2% of the games he entered (35 out of 427 games) “despite running a macro that should have easily beaten any human competitor.”
AviaGames Lawsuit
In its successful lawsuit against AviaGames, Skillz raised similar allegations of bot use, but the case hinged on whether Avia infringed on Skillz’s patent-protected platform. Avia claimed it simply used players’ past performances to compete against live players to expedite the player-matching process.
The jury wasn’t convinced.
The group of 12 concluded that after partnering with Skillz in a business-to-business arrangement, Avia modified the platform to its financial advantage. That hurt Skillz’s standing in the skill gaming industry, as players reported significantly faster pairing times on Avia’s app.
The jury found “willful infringement” and awarded Skillz $42.89 million.
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Last Comments ( 17 )
Would like to join lawsuit. Once I started winning, they removed access to all normal games and the few games that I can play now are consistently won with ridiculously high scores by the same "players". Have screenshots for proof.
Does anyone know how I can join this lawsuit?
I need to join this lawsuit I have been scammed out of money of numerous times using different format.
I would like to join the lawsuit also I lost a lot of money playing this games
I also would like to join this complete and utter scam of a game
I would like to join the lawsuit as well. I lost hundreds of dollars.
I would also like to join this lawsuit! Lost waaaayyy more then I ever won and I am also sus about potentially playing against bots. Also if you bypass a card you need to play in your deck, and it’s your last possible move, I noticed the next time you get to that card again, they change the order of the deck so you cannot play that card, however when you need a card that’s at the bottom or middle of the pile, the next time you get to that card the order of the deck does not change! So they are def rigging the deck and changing the order of the deck to set the game and make you lose!
I would like to join this lawsuit. Urbanjoco@yahoo.com
I would like to join the lawsuit as well. I've only been playing for a short time and noticed that humans or bots are scoring way too high for the game so I lose my money. You get points for dabbing the most I've gotten for a dab is 134 points and I'm pretty fast playing the rookie game. I lost today to a player whose score was over 20,000. A bingo card only has 24 squares you can dab. I did the math, they would have to give you 833 points for each square to score 20,000 with a blackout. It's humanly impossible.
Am I able to join this suit after losing thousands not realizing I wasn't playing against other humans?
Is there a way to join. I lost multiple 1000s to them. It ruined my credit and my life. I was going through a medical situation and was playing to take my mind off it. Then I was playing yo try to recoup some of the loss.
Yes, I'd like to join the lawsuit as well. Same like others already mentioned and also they are not paying out if more than $20, they claimed I opened up multiple accounts so they closed them, yes, it was my husband and my sister in law account, I sometimes played theirs when out of bonus cash, but my withdrawal of two $20 before they closed the accounts didn't get paid out.
I’d like to know how to join this class action lawsuit. I have been playing for a few months and it is definitely not skill based when you are loosing to people 500 to over 1,009 levels above yours
Their Bonus Cash system really needs to be investigated also. It's extremely corrupt and I have the proof!!
How can an individual join the class action lawsuit against Papaya gaming? I’ve played Solitaire Cash over the past few months and became suspicious of playing against bots. I’ve monitored scoreboards and “players” and have collected information to shore up my case.