Litigation by Aristocrat Gaming (ASX: ALL) seems to have affected some change, although exactly how comprehensive that change will be remains to be seen. Light & Wonder (NASDAQ: LNW) CEO Matt Wilson recently announced that the company will revise its Dragon Train slot games.
While some of that announcement is in response to a recent order from a federal court regarding the slots, this move suggests that Aristocrat’s lawsuit against L&W concerning those games had significant merit.
Aristocrat’s decision on whether or not to proceed with further legal actions probably rests on how significantly L&W changes its Dragon Train slots.
Light & Wonder makes its move
After the federal court for the district of Nevada granted Aristocrat’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking L&W’s commercial use of Dragon Train slots at physical casinos within the court’s jurisdiction, the question became whether L&W would appeal that decision.
Due to Wilson’s recent announcement on YouTube, it seems that will not be the case. “First, we are ensuring that our customers are taken care of, as we comply with the judge’s order,” Wilson stated in the Oct. 3, 2024, video.
Aristocrat sued L&W alleging that L&W copied elements of its proprietary Dragon Link slot games. That litigation is still pending.
Wilson continued to share that across North America, L&W had about 2,200 Dragon Train slots in use. Wilson emphasized that removing the Dragon Train games was an “immediate priority.”
However, that does not mean that L&W will never release any future titles with the Dragon Train name. Wilson spoke briefly about ambitions to release “Dragon Train 2.0.”
The future of the Dragon Train franchise
Although details are scant right now about how soon a new version of Dragon Train will appear in casinos, L&W seems determined to make that happen.
“Our intention is to build out Dragon Train 2.0 in compliance with the order and we are working actively on this right now,” Wilson explained.
It’s important to note that L&W’s compliance with the court order does not end the litigation against it by Aristocrat. The preliminary injunction was not a ruling on the merits of the case.
Aristocrat could petition the court to withdraw its lawsuit as a result of L&W’s announcement. What seems more likely, though, is that Aristocrat will wait to see what L&W’s Dragon Train 2.0 looks like before dropping the complaint.
This announcement from L&W also does not affect other similar litigation to which L&W is a party. That involves similar allegations of L&W improperly using intellectual property controlled by Evolution Gaming Group.
Settlements in both cases remain possibilities. Should either case go to trial it could set new precedents for copyright and patent law in casino games.
For now, L&W’s focus is on compliance with the court order and getting new Dragon Train games to market. When L&W releases those new games the rest of this situation should play out.