A consumer advocate has filed a lawsuit against a popular entertainment company, accusing it of rigging arcade claw machines to prevent players from winning prizes until a certain profit threshold is met. The complaint was filed by Alexander Xue in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, on December 19, 2024, against Round One Entertainment Inc.
According to the complaint, Round One Entertainment Inc., which operates an arcade at Stonestown Galleria under the trade name Round! Bowling & Arcade, allegedly rigs its claw machines so that they function more like gambling devices than games of skill. The plaintiff, Alexander Xue, claims that during his visit to the arcade on December 7, 2024, he spent $50 on play credits but only managed to win one stuffed animal. Xue asserts that despite carefully positioning the claw over prizes and following the instructions provided by the arcade staff, he noticed irregularities in the machines' operations. He alleges that the machines were designed to vary their clasping force randomly and would only allow a prize to be won when predetermined conditions were met.
Xue's lawsuit accuses Round One Entertainment Inc. of violating several California laws, including the Unfair Competition Law (UCL), False Advertising Law (FAL), and Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA). The complaint argues that these practices are unlawful because they mislead consumers into believing they are playing games of skill when they are actually engaging in games of chance. "Defendant is attempting to run a casino under the appearance of an arcade," Xue claims in his filing. He further accuses the company of fraudulent concealment for not disclosing that their machines were rigged.
The plaintiff seeks injunctive relief to stop these practices and requests restitutionary disgorgement of all revenues obtained through these allegedly unfair methods. Additionally, Xue demands actual damages according to proof and reserves the right to amend his complaint for CLRA damages after serving a compliant notice and demand letter.
The case has been assigned Case Number CGC-24-620755 in front of Judge Marivic Viray. Alexander Xue is representing himself pro se in this matter.