Big Fish games virtual chips leads to lawsuit, Aristocrat to defend

Aristocrat Leisure on Tuesday said it intends to “vigorously defend’ a lawsuit filed against a player against Big Fish Games, its digital gaming arm, over its issuance of virtual currency which would, in the state of Washington, constitute as illegal gambling.

The outcome of the lawsuit will depend on whether the plaintiff can prove that the virtual currency has any monetary value.

While the “virtual chips” can not be exchanged for real world money, if users ran out of chips, they would need to buy more to continue playing the games - including Blackjack, poker and slot machines.

Prices for the chips ranged from $1.99 to $250, which led the court to determine that the chips fell within the definition of a “thing of value”.

On Tuesday, Aristocrat said neither the company nor Big Fish have yet been served with the lawsuit, but said they intend to “vigorously defend the action”.

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