Light & Wonder issues Dragon Train litigation update
The supplier conducted a webcast following an amended complaint filed by Aristocrat.
Key points:
– Light & Wonder has provided an update to its ongoing game design litigation case with Aristocrat
– This action comes following additional claims of trade secret misappropriation filed by Aristocrat in March 2025
– President & CEO Matt Wilson has stated that the supplier’s official response can be expected by 11 April
Light & Wonder (L&W) has provided an update to its ongoing litigation battle pertaining to its Dragon Train game series with Aristocrat.
As part of a webcast conducted by Light & Wonder President & CEO, Matt Wilson, the company looked to shed some light on the ongoing legal battle, which began in 2024 when fellow industry giant Aristocrat filed an initial claim which accused L&W of copying Aristocrat’s game, Dragon Link.
Recently, on 14 March 2025, Aristocrat re-filed its initial complaints against L&W’s Jewel of the Dragon title, with the additional accusation of trade secret misappropriation in the District Court of Nevada. Subsequently, L&W have filed a response to the amended complaint which, as specified by Wilson, is expected to be completed by 11 April.
Indeed, the initial complaint was filed a year ago in March 2024, with the last update from L&W on the progress of the case being issued in October 2024. As part of this update, Wilson informed company stakeholders and the wider industry that the Dragon Train game had been removed from the US and Australian markets in order to avoid confusion, with the designer involved in trade secret infringement having also been terminated.
Now, this newly filed complaint by Aristocrat further accuses L&W of benefitting from trade secret misappropriation even if none of the highlighted trade secrets were imparted into its games. Further, this new complaint references emails by L&W employee Emma Charles, game designer of Dragon Train, alongside also highlighting issues with an additional unreleased game.
In the wake of this legal contention, L&W has initiated a third-party audit undertaken by Mark Nicely – which has now been extended to include all of the supplier’s hold and spin games released from mid-2021. This audit, according to the company, has not highlighted any issues similar to that of the ones raised with Dragon Train and Jewel of the Dragon. L&W has reaffirmed its $1.4bn targeted consolidated adjusted EBITDA for 2025, alongside a targeted adjusted NPATA range of between $565m and $635m.
Good to know: In February, L&W reported an all-time high consolidated revenue figure of $3.2bn during FY2024
As part of his webcast address, Wilson stated: “We remain steadfast in our commitment to continued R&D investment to further develop our catalogue of proven, evergreen franchises. We are a purpose-built organisation for developing a diverse portfolio of great games that players want to play, and our strategy is working. The broad uplift in share gains in game performance we’ve experienced across our portfolio is a testament to the quality of the talent and the culture within our organisation.”
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