Candy Crush Class Action Moves Forward with Fewer Claims

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An Illinois federal judge has dismissed fraud claims from a class action lawsuit alleging King.com Ltd. entices Candy Crush users to invite their friends to download the game in exchange for free “lives” which are promptly deleted.

Plaintiff Zachery Liston claims King.com urges Candy Crush players to invite their Facebook friends to download the game by offering them free “lives,” which normally cost about 20 cents each.

However, once the users’ friends sign up, King.com deletes the free lives and essentially voids the incentive, the Candy Crush class action lawsuit alleges.

Candy Crush is a game that can be played on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. It is a type of puzzle game in which players advance to different levels after clearing icons from the board by lining up at least three in a row in various configurations.

Players are only given a limited number of attempts to clear the icons from the board before they lose one of their in-game lives and have to repeat the level, according to the Candy Crush class action lawsuit.

Candy Crush players reportedly start the game with five lives and are able to earn one free life every 30 minutes, up to a maximum of five lives. When a player loses all of the lives, he or she must wait another 30 minutes before resuming the game.

Because Candy Crush is so addictive, many players seek alternative methods of attaining free lives instead of waiting 30 minutes. One method is to purchase additional lives by paying 99 cents to purchase five lives, the Candy Crush class action lawsuit says.

Players can also link their Candy Crush accounts to their Facebook accounts, which allows them to request and receive more lives from Facebook friends who have downloaded Candy Crush on their mobile devices. If the Facebook friend has not already installed Candy Crush, he or she will be prompted to do so, according to the Candy Crush class action lawsuit.

Liston claims he plays Candy Crush and would periodically ask his Facebook friends for donated lives. According to the Candy Crush class action lawsuit, some of his Facebook friends installed Candy Crush based on his request. Liston says he noticed the donated lives disappeared when he returned to the game. He alleges in the Candy Crush class action lawsuit that King.com had either designed or changed the game in order to remove the donated lives without notifying players beforehand.

The Candy Crush class action lawsuit asserted claims for violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (ICFA), breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment, as well as violations of consumer protection statutes of all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. dismissed CFAA claims and Illinois Consumer Fraud Act claims after finding the Candy Crush class action lawsuit did not provide sufficient evidence to support the fraud claims. However, he allowed the other claims to move forward.

Liston filed the Candy Crush class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and what he estimates to be a Class of about 25 million players who have had free lives deleted by King.com.

Liston is represented by Richard L. Miller II, Michael L. Silverman, Joseph J. Siprut and Richard S. Wilson of Siprut PC and Ismael Tariq Salam of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC.

The Candy Crush Class Action Lawsuit is Zachery Liston v. King.com, Case No. 1:15-cv-01853, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.