A game which promises its users real money in prizes has been dishonestly pitting players against bots to ensure they never win, a bombshell new lawsuit claims.
AviaGames Inc has been labelled a ‘corrupt organization engaged in an illegal gambling operation’ involving ‘rigged games’ to ‘steal’ money from oblivious users who think they are engaging in competitions which can be won through skill.
The whistleblowers, Big Run Studios and Skillz Platform Inc., are also demanding compensation from the California-based company, alleging it stole their technology to create copycat a version of their game Blackout Bingo to launch Bingo Clash.
As plaintiffs, Skillz say AviaGames has been using their ‘ill-gotten technology’ to ‘induce players to pay money to compete in rigged games’ by using bots disguised as real players to cheat.
Around August of 2020, AviaGames launched a game on its ‘infringing platform’ called Bingo Clash which Big Run says is ‘virtually identical in appearance and functionality to Blackout Bingo’
AviaGames has ‘willfully copied the original, creative and protectable expressions’ featured in the Big Run’s Blackout Bingo game, according to the lawsuit
AviaGames’s platform allegedly copies the original and creative protectable expressions in the Skillz Platform, including the sequence, structure and organization of its layout, as well as individual screen displays and the textual and visual expressions embodied in those display
This allegedly guarantees ‘that AviaGames wins and its customers lose – and then steals their money’, according to the California lawsuit seen by .com, which demands a jury trial.
The gaming operator presents itself as a ‘fair and honest broker’ which persuades players to take part based on ‘false promises of fairness, a level playing field and cash prizes based on their skill’, according to the claim.
Furious players have also begun accusing the platform of being ‘rigged’ through a flurry of one-star reviews left on the AppStore.
One review described AviaGames’ productions as ‘not legit’, fuming: ‘It’s sneaky and despicable how they have it rigged!’
The player said it ‘took a while to catch on’, but it became ‘crystal clear’ when they realized they gained much lower scores in games where money was involved.
‘I deleted this game a long time ago due to noticing they were using bots as opponents (so obvious with their names) and losing all the time after I got up too high for their liking,’ they said.
Another reviewer blasted the AviaGames’ competitions as ‘a scam’, saying even when they won $30 dollars over the course of a month paying to play, they were only allowed to withdraw $2.
‘The adverts show this game as a game you can win hundreds of dollars on, and I understand that isn’t going to be completely true but it is just not ok for them to not let a player withdraw their money, especially when they’ve put money into the game,’ they said.
‘Throughout its website, social media, and in response to user reviews, AviaGames claims to be “committed to providing a safe, fair, and legitimate gaming environment,” telling users to “rest assured that you are playing against real people, not bots”,’ the lawsuit says.
‘All of these statements—and countless others made by AviaGames on its website and elsewhere—are false and misleading.’
The lawsuit points out that odds are stacked in favor of the house in traditional games of gambling – but ‘games of skill’ are supposed to be different, with players having the ability to rise through the ranks based on their ability.
‘In fact, playing against other users based on skill is what differentiates games of skill from traditional gambling, allowing them to be played in some states that do not allow traditional gambling,’ the court documents state.
The lawsuit claims AviaGames ‘pirated Skillz’s commercials’ and ran portions of them to promote their own services
Examples provided to the court appear to show direct similarities
The lawsuit alleges AviaGames ‘slavishly copied the design, structure, layout, description, and overall feel of the Skillz Platform’s gaming tiers’
AviaGames tells followers that, ‘When you play BingoClash, you are matched with players that are the same level as you’
The lawsuit blasts AviaGames founder and CEO Vickie Chen for recognizing this in a Forbes article she wrote, and ‘discussing – of all things – the necessity of “fairness technology” and “anti-fraud measures”‘.
‘To make matters worse, AviaGames—including Ms. Chen—know what they are doing is not only wrong, but illegal, and have gone to great lengths to conceal their illicit behavior,’ the legal bundle says.
Big Run Studios and Skillz Platform say AviaGames took Skillz’s mobile eSports platform
It did this to ‘steal intellectual property and brazenly take and infringe Big Run and Skillz copyrights in some of the most valuable original and creative works ever created for the mobile video game industry’, the lawsuit says.
‘AviaGames then fraudulently promoted its mobile gaming product as fair and skill-based, using Skillz and Big Run’s stolen IP to do so, when in fact, it is rigged by AviaGames’s use of computers or “bots” that masquerade as human players.
‘And making matters worse, AviaGames continues to falsely tell its customers—and the public—that it does not use bots.’
The lawsuit credits Skillz as a ‘legitimate’ company which does not use bots and has ‘revolutionized the gaming industry’, and claims that millions of players use the platform in ‘fair, fun and meaningful competition’ with Big Run as Skillz’s mobile game development partner, which created Blackout Bingo – one of its most popular games.
One player labelled AviaGames platform as a ‘scam’ after trying to withdraw his winnings
A concerned player who rated the game one star said labelled AviaGames’ platform an ‘absolute cash grab’
Another player said they were only able to withdraw $2 out of $30 won
After realizing they were losing, one player began to question if he was playing real people
The sister companies say AviaGames ‘slavishly copied original and distinctive elements’ of this game, to build a copycat called Bingo Clash.
They say the games are so similar that when Bingo Clash players are dissatisfied, they have mistakenly submitted complaints to Skillz rather than AviaGames.
AviaGames has even ‘shamelessly copied’ original and creative elements of ‘vast swaths of Skillz’s portfolio, including its platform layout, architecture, sequence, structure, design, color, graphics, and layout of individual screens, per the suit.
It has even taken ‘whole paragraphs of original text’ from Skillz pages and adverts Skillz developed to promote its eSports platform.
Skillz says to ensure that its players engage in head-to-head competition under randomized circumstances, it created a Software Development Kit which involves patented tech.
‘Games that are developed using Skillz’s SDK can be played only on the Skillz platform, which is what enables the games to function as competitive eSports, where players can earn prizes with real world value as a reward for their skills,’ the lawsuit says.
Skillz also has a history with AviaGames – the plaintiff said Avia approached their leaders in 2016 to express interest in building a game for them.
AviaGames signed up to be a Skillz customer – and as a result it ‘began receiving additional tools, creative support, market data, marketing assets, and technical know-how far beyond what Skillz offers free of charge through its Developer Portal’.
The lawsuit claims that it was through this ‘collaboration’ – which Skillz now believes was a ploy for information – that AviaGames stole its technology to build a copycat eSports platform called Pocket7Games which AviaGames uses to launch knockoff versions of Skillz’s most popular games.
‘The overall look and feel of the creative, protectable elements of Blackout Bingo are strikingly similar’ to those of AviaGames’ version, the lawsuit claims
‘AviaGames was so unapologetic that it began promoting its copycat Pocket7Games app using marketing assets that Skillz provided to AviaGames when AviaGames asked for help promoting the only game it did create for the Skillz Platform,’ the suit says.
‘That game—AviaGames’s only lawful use of Skillz’s intellectual property—was a flop.
‘But it served as the Trojan horse that AviaGames needed to discover the keys to Skillz’s success.’
The plaintiffs said they have both sent AviaGames cease-and-desist notices demanding it stops infringing on their copyright – but this had little effect.
The lawsuit accuses AviaGames of breaching the Copyright Act, California’s False Advertising Law, and California’s Unfair Competition Law.
Compensation in the form of ‘damages, gains, profits, and advantages’ has been sought by the plaintiffs, with a total amount to be ascertained during the trial, along with an injunction to prevent further breach of their IP.
.com has approached Ms. Chen via her legal representation and an attorney representing AviaGames for comment.