Second Light & Wonder title may be hit in Aristocrat spat, but impact low

• Light & Wonder could have to settle with Aristocrat over the Jewel of the Dragon series
• Aristocrat has previously raised the matter during the Dragon Train litigation
• Macquire analysts have said that Light & Wonder does not expect a "material impact" on its performance

Light & Wonder may be in the same kind of trouble it was in several months ago, with Aristocrat Gaming once again eyeing a game developed by the former as a likely "copycat" of one of its existing products.

Light & Wonder may face more legal pressure from Aristocrat

Previously, Aristocrat litigated with Light & Wonder to determine whether the company’s Dragon Train game bore a resemblance to Aristocrat’s own Dragon Link titles and won.

A judge granted a preliminary injunction impacting the Dragon Train series by Light & Wonder and ordered the company to stop offering the games in the United States or otherwise make use of the product as it bore too significant a resemblance to Aristocrat’s intellectual property.

Interestingly, the litigation did not spill over to Australia, where Light & Wonder sold and installed some 10,000 Dragon Train units. Now, though, a second game may be targeted by Aristocrat.

Aristocrat is potentially looking into Light & Wonder’s Jewel of the Dragon series, with one particular title – Red Phoenix bearing a resemblance to Aristocrat’s Autumn Moon game. This issue was in fact raised during the first round of litigation between the companies that involved the Dragon Link series by Aristocrat and the Dragon Train series by Light & Wonder.

Macquire, a global financial services company, issued an update with its stating that there has indeed been "pre-emptive" communication between Light & Wonder and Aristocrat regarding the issue. Light & Wonder had reached out, it seems, to address what could be another serious legal spat between the two companies to avert just that.

Jewel of the Dragon series not as materially impactful as Dragon Train series

Chad Beynon, a Macquarie analyst, said that the firm has communicated with Light & Wonder’s management team, who assured him that the Jewel of the Dragon constitutes but a "fraction of the size of the Dragon Train fleet," as cited by Inside Asian Gaming.

"As a reminder, Light & Wonder sold around 10,000 Dragon Train units in Australia, but these were not required to be turned off or replaced as part of the legal proceedings. Light & Wonder did have to replace the Dragon Train units within its US gaming ops installed base, but as management noted, there are far fewer Jewel of the Dragon units compared to Dragon," the Macquarie update to investors said.

Whether Aristocrat delivers and pursues litigation against Light & Wonder because of its Jewel of the Dragon product and specifically Red Phoenix is unclear. However, Light & Wonder is confident that this worst-case scenario would not have a "material impact" on the company’s pre-configured targets.

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