Online gaming company AviaGames, Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that it misled players into believing they were competing against other humans when in fact they were playing against computer bots.
The plaintiffs, Andrew Pandolfi and Mandi Shawcroft, argue that this practice manipulates the games of skill into games of chance, effectively running an unapproved gambling enterprise.
The suit also names Vickie Yanjuan Chen, Ping Wang, ACME, LLC and Galaxy Digital Capital Management L.P. as defendants.
The plaintiffs claim that Avia's users have wagered hundreds of millions of dollars on these manipulated games. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The legal team representing the plaintiffs includes Todd Logan, of Edelson PC, of San Francisco; and Matthew S. Tripolitsiotis and Spencer Cox from Burns Charest LLP, of New York and Washington, D.C.