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A Maryland woman has filed a class action lawsuit against app maker Machine Zone, Inc., alleging that its Game of War app is a de facto game-of-chance, or casino, which is illegal.
Plaintiff Mia Mason claims that she purchased Game of War in early 2014 onto her smartphone. By January 2015, she had already “lost more than $100” playing the game.
Game of War is free on Android and Apple iOS devices. Players “create virtual towns and armies, and battle other Game of War players” to play.
When players first download the game, it comes with complimentary chips. When these chips run out, players must purchase virtual gold beginning at $4.99 for 1,200 gold pieces.
“While players can use Gold to improve their virtual towns and hasten their advancement in the game, these benign uses of Gold merely obfuscate the unlawful game of chance Machine Zone operates within Game of War,” the Game of War class action lawsuit states.
“In this game of chance — appropriately named the ‘Casino’ — players routinely wager hundreds of dollars for the chance of winning valuable prizes,” it explains.
“Players that win the most valuable prizes can then ‘cash out’ by listing their Game of War accounts on the secondary market, with the cash value of accounts rising commensurate with the value of awarded prizes. Game of War accounts listed at online auction sites regularly sell for hundreds of dollars,” it adds.
According to the class action lawsuit, Machine Zone has made more than $600 million since early 2014 by selling gold and chips within the game.
“Once consumers purchase Gold, they are able to buy ‘Chips’ at the game’s ‘Casino,'” Mason explains. “Defendant’s aptly named Casino, though, is nothing more than an illegal game of chance camouflaged as a benign videogame.”
And she alleges that it functions no differently than a slot machine in a traditional casino.
“Similar to traditional spinning wheels found in casinos, consumers do not have any ability to control what prizes Defendant awards upon a spin,” the Game of War class action lawsuit claims.
“After pressing the button to spin the wheel, Defendant does not accept any input or action until it awards the prize — no skill on the part of the consumer affects the outcome of a spin,” the class action states.
“The outcome of a spin depends entirely on the rules Defendant has programmed into the Game of War Casino,” it adds.
Mason explains in the class action lawsuit that there has been a “proliferation of internet-connected mobile devices as led to the growth of so-called ‘free-to-play’ videogames.
However, these free-to-play games come with a catch, as many developers encourage consumers to download and play games for free while selling many low-cost items within the game itself.”
Such free-to-play games earned developers $1.6 billion in 2012.
“With free-to-play games of chance, developers have begun exploiting the same psychological triggers as casino operators,” the Game of War class action lawsuit says.
“Just as with casino operators, free-to-play developers rely on a small portion of their players to provide the majority of their profits. These ‘whales,’ as they’re known in casino parlance, account for just ‘0.15 percent of players’ but provide ‘over 50 percent of mobile game revenue,'” Mason explains.
“Unfortunately, such games have eluded regulation in the United States.”
Mason is looking to represent a Maryland class and a nationwide class of individuals “who purchased chips from defendant and lost the chips by wagering at defendant’s Game of War Casino.”
The Game of War class action lawsuit alleges violations of California law regarding slot machines, of California’s unfair competition law, unjust enrichment, and the Maryland Loss Recovery Statute.
She is asking for damages, in the amount that any customers have paid playing Game of War and injunctive relief.
The plaintiff is represented by Maria C. Simon of The Geller Law Group and by Rafey S. Balabanian, Benjamin H. Richman and Amir C. Missaghi of Edelson PC.
The Game of War Illegal Gambling Class Action Lawsuit is Mia Mason v. Machine Zone, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
UPDATE: The Game of War Illegal Gambling Class Action Lawsuit was dismissed by the court on October 21, 2015. The plaintiff then appealed the dismissal. The appeals court affirmed the original ruling on April 10, 2017.
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92 thoughts onClass Action: Game of War is an Unlawful Casino Game
No one has addressed the issue that there are materials in these chests which are purchased that have absolutely no use whatsoever. It just so happens that these chests which are paid for are primarily filled with these useless materials. I spent some money on the game, but was lucky enough to have someone let me know how much money I would actually need to spend to be able to make good equipment. Tens of thousands of dollars. My biggest concern is that I am paying for an in game product and receiving materials which have absolutely no use in the game as filler. There is nothing telling the people purchasing these items that most of the items you receive will have no use whatsoever otherwise people would not be spending so much money chasing a practically unattainable goal.
So recently I have been banned from the game of war with two two billon accounts spent over 5k on both accounts on explanation was given just that I did follow the section 4 polices which I have never seen when you down load this game/app it takes you to a build a new city no sign ups or agreements of anything so they booted me for trading rss or having a for sale sign on my name which was only used to throw off the ememy as it was a rally trap account. I have contacted them over 20 times got one response back with them still not giving me a good enough explanation and not returning my accounts. What a great way to do business basically. How can some one take your money away by a push of a button. The lack of response or even able to talk to someone of any sort makes me feel like what the heck kind of business is this with out a phone number. At the moment we have sevral members really angry about this and my banning has spread through several kingdoms. I hope MZ does whats best and return my accounts.
Contact apple or Google play claiming unjust seizure of account if you’ve spent $$, they should reimburse you of your monetary spending.
Subject: [Android-Client] lag, loss of hero energy and troops
AUG 07, 2015 | 12:13AM PDT
Ruby Allen replied:
Hi there,
Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your email.
I’ve looked into this further, and I am not showing that there were any issues with the servers on the 1st of August.
Whenever you experience this kind of issues, I would recommend you to force close this app and all other apps that are running in the background because they compete for internet bandwidth and device memory. This will cause your device to ping our game’s server and update your game.This should correct any issues that you discover within the game, including lag.
Unfortunately, considering that this is an online MMO, we cannot guarantee stability as this is dependent on the player’s device and internet connection. Because of these factors we urge players not to wait for the last minute to perform actions.
We would not be able to reverse the results of the battle or return any troops lost during the course of the battle.
Regards
Ruby Allen
Game of War – Fire Age
I believe they run afoul of gambling laws and other laws that force companies to specifically state what youre getting. For instance, these packs have materials that youd want, to make things easier. Youd think the packs that you buy for money give you a higher percentage chance to acquire the in-game materials, but they dont, and like others are beginning to find out, through trial-and-error, that the drop rates of certain neccesary materials is virtually nil. They should have to state what the percentage chance of acquiring, like casinos have to state what your wagering on, and what your chances of success are.
Technically it’s the truth. Worse than that, it’s gambling without giving the true odds. Everything is a gamble though, not just the casino. There is a gamble in how many chest you need to open for a specific material that they have you chasing. I was personally told that the items are random and it’s clearly not the case. That my friend is a problem as I’m spending $100.00 a purchase after when it was rigged. Is that even legal considering its gambling in the state of VA?
they say that the materials are randomly generated in the chests, but they are not there is no way that you can have such a disparity in the materials you get. How can I have over 200 legendary blue fireballs but 0 green fireballs. The game is rigged so you have to spend thousands of dollars to get complete sets
That’s funny crap, this is what America is nowadays sue sue sue. Get a grip you spent the money move on, if you have a gambling addiction f2p is not for you, every one I have played are all the same buy this for s chance at that. I hope this gets kicked out of court stupidest shit I have read yet. And if you spent over a grand go put yourself in rehab because you got bigger problems than this game.
Now a days??? American has always and I am quite sure will always be about sueing… we don’t have much government or customer protection like Canada. . New Zealand. . England etc does… basically if something or someone wrongs you it’s \on you\ to fix it, which almost always means getting a professional i.e. lawyer,cop, etc. …… nothin better tho than when someone who doesn’t even understand society and community screams `Murica in public on a website about lawsuits lmao
I was able to get $150 refunded from Apple. I would recommend everyone to try to get as many refunds for packs as possible as well. Of course your GoW account will be banned but honestly this game is literally as bad as crack cocaine.
Stop being self righteous. It’s called addiction. They can’t stop spending. Quit calling them ridiculous. Wow! Would you say the same thing to people being treated for drug addiction. Quit being an insensitive a-hole.
YES I WOULD!!!
This is some funny stuff. Seriously you folks need to stop and think about what you are saying…and take responsibility for your own actions. YOU made the choice to spend the money on the game. YOU. Nobody held a gun to your hear and forced you to spend a dime. Get over yourselves people, and get on with life.
AND…I have spent a grand total of $24 on the game (at the very beginning). 228mil power with full t4 unlocked in 11 months. Play smart…you don’t keep throwing money at the game to play well and enjoy it.
Lol as small as you would be one solo from me would zero you with your shield down. Ive spent over 12k on the game. Thats my issue not theirs. My problem is their unlocks. It says buy 6 mil gold unlock this extra content. Bought over requested amount and content stayed lock. Then had a customer service rep tell me after 3 weeks of waiting that I purchased too late, when I have written proof from amazon that I purchased within the time restrictions.
I agree with a lawsuit against Machine zone I’ve lost over $3,000 because their game flaws and over $1,000 in casino because they change game content mid stream. I wrote machine zone and no reply. Later I wrote Apple. Apple told me its machine zones issue. Machine zone says its apples issue. It’s a merry go round to screw your out of your money. I have screen shots and emails in stacks of proof.