Playtech has confirmed reports that it has exited the California sweepstakes market.
The supplier told SBC Americas that after assessing its position in the jurisdiction, it is “not supplying social gaming operators on sweepstakes in California at this time”.
Although Playtech was not included, this decision follows the office of Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto bringing a case against the sweepstakes operator Stake.us and a group of suppliers, including Pragmatic Play, Evolution and Hacksaw Gaming.
Both Evolution and Hacksaw have removed their content from Stake.us after the suit was filed. Meanwhile, Pragmatic Play went one step further and ended its supply of all of its games to the sweepstakes market across the US.
VGW remains defiant
Rumblings of Playtech’s decision began last Wednesday (3 September), when the VGW-operated Chumba Casino confirmed to players yesterday (3 September) that it would be removing some games in California, including Playtech’s Tsai Shen’s Gift Fire Blaze, Mega Fire Blaze: Big Circus and Oink Oink Oink.
Despite this, and being dragged into its own legal battle in the Northern California District Court, VGW remains confident in its California sweepstakes offering.
A spokesperson for the operator said: “We understand these players may be disappointed and apologise for any inconvenience or frustration caused.
“However, we are not reliant on third party games suppliers and our brands still offer a vast library of world-class free-to-play games, many of which are created by our amazing in-house games studios that provide our players with leading, exclusive content.
“We cannot speak to the decisions of third party games providers but from time to time, licensing arrangements with games suppliers evolve for a variety of reasons and we continue to have a positive relationship with Playtech.”
Alongside legal action, California lawmakers are also currently considering AB 831 which seeks to criminalise sweepstakes gaming, and has support from the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, other major gaming tribes, and the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA).