A Court authorized the notice because you had a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decided to give final approval to the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Ricardo S. Martinez, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, is overseeing this case. The case is called Heathcote v. SpinX Games Limited, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-01310-RSM.  The person who sued is called the Plaintiff.  The Defendants are SpinX Games Limited, Grande Games Limited, and Beijing Bole Technology Co., Ltd.
 

In a class action, one or more people called class representatives (in this case, Alma Sue Croft) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims.  In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

The lawsuit claims that Defendants violated Washington’s gambling laws and Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, and that Defendant was unjustly enriched, through the sale of virtual coins in the following social casino-style games:  Cash Frenzy, Lotsa Slots, Jackpot World, Vegas Friends, Jackpot Mania, Jackpot Fever, DAFU, Cash Bash, and Jackpot Crush.  Defendants deny all claims and that they violated any law.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiff or the Defendants should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement.  That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

More information about the Settlement and the lawsuit are available in the Important Documents page, or by accessing the Court docket in this case, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.wawd.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Tacoma Courthouse, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.
 

The Court decided that everyone who fits the following description is a member of the Settlement Class:

Persons who played Cash Frenzy, Lotsa Slots, DAFU, Jackpot World, Jackpot Fever, Jackpot Crush, Jackpot Mania, Cash Bash, and/or Vegas Friends, on or before January 31, 2022, while located in the state of Washington.

Now that the Settlement has become final, Defendants will establish a Settlement Fund totaling $3,500,000.  Settlement Class Member payments, as well as the cost to administer the Settlement, the cost to inform people about the Settlement, any attorneys’ fees and costs awarded by the Court, and any incentive award to the Class Representative approved by the Court will also come out of this fund. 

In addition to monetary relief, Defendants have also agreed to take or maintain measures designed to address video game behavior disorders, including providing self-service resources to players, providing for voluntary self-exclusion, and implementing in-game mechanics to ensure that players who run out of sufficient virtual coins will be able to continue to play the games without waiting an unreasonable amount of time.

A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement available on the Important Documents page.

If you are member of the Settlement Class you could have submitted a Claim Form before January 26, 2023 to receive a portion of the Settlement Fund.  The exact amount of your payment can’t be determined at this time, but you can get an estimate by visiting the settlement website.  The amount of your payment will depend on, among other things, (1) the total dollar amount of in-game purchases you made while playing the Cash Frenzy, Lotsa Slots, Jackpot World, Vegas Friends, and/or other SpinX Games Social Casino Games, with those who spent more money receiving a higher percentage back, (2) whether or not your claims are potentially subject to the Binding Arbitration Provision in Defendants’ Terms of Use, and (3) how many Settlement Class Members submit claims.  If you would like more information about how Settlement Payments are determined, visit the Home Page.

The Court granted Final Approval on December 1, 2022. Now that the Settlement is final, you should receive a check or electronic payment, Venmo or PayPal if elected, from the Settlement Administrator within 60 days after the Settlement has been finally approved and/or any appeals process is complete. If you elected to receive your payment via check, please keep in mind that checks will expire and become void 180 days after they are issued.  If appropriate, funds remaining from the initial round of uncashed checks, or electronic payments that cannot be processed, may be used for a second distribution to Settlement Class Members and/or may be donated to the Legal Foundation of Washington. The court has extended the distribution deadline by 30 days and we estimate that payments will be issued to Class Members on approximately April 27, 2023.

If you were a Class Member in this case and you cashed or claimed your initial Settlement payment, you were deemed eligible for a second payment under the terms of the Settlement. The second payment represents your pro rata share of the remaining Settlement Fund consisting of uncashed checks from other eligible class members after their initial payment was voided. Secondary payments were sent to eligible class members on January 30, 2024.

If you are a Class Member and you wanted to get a payment, you must have completed and submitted a Claim Form by the January 26, 2023 deadline. On your claim form, you could have elected to receive your payment via mailed check, Venmo, or PayPal. We estimate that payments will be issued on approximately April 27, 2023. If you were a Class Member in this case and you cashed or claimed your initial Settlement payment, you were deemed eligible for a second payment under the terms of the Settlement. Secondary payments were sent to eligible class members on January 30, 2024.

Now that the Settlement has become final, you gave up your right to sue the Defendant and other Released Parties for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.  The specific claims you gave up against the Defendant are described in the Settlement Agreement.  You have “released” the Defendant and certain of its affiliates, employees and representatives as described in Section 1.30 of the Settlement Agreement.  Unless you excluded yourself, you “released” the claims, regardless of whether you submitted an election or not.  The Settlement Agreement is available through the Important Documents page.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully.  If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers in this case for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If you do nothing, you won’t get any benefits from this Settlement. But, unless you excluded yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

The Court has appointed two lawyers at the firm Bursor & Fisher, P.A. to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class.  Those lawyers – Philip L. Fraietta and Alec M. Leslie – are called “Class Counsel.”  They are experienced in handling similar class action cases.  More information about these lawyers, their law firm, and their experience is available at www.bursor.com.  They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers.  If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

The Defendant has agreed that Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees and costs may be paid out of the Settlement Fund in an amount determined by the Court. The fee petition sought $875,000.00 of the Settlement Fund, plus $22,295.01 in reimbursement of their costs and expenses, and the Court awarded this amount.  Under the Settlement Agreement, any amount awarded to Class Counsel will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. 

Additionally, as approved by the Court, Defendant has agreed that the Class Representatives may receive a service award of $5,000 each from the Settlement Fund for their services in helping to bring and resolve this case.

If you had wanted to exclude yourself from the Settlement, you could have written to the Settlement Administrator about why you wanted to exclude yourself from the Settlement by no later than November 7, 2022. The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement has passed. 

If you did not exclude yourself, you cannot sue the Defendant for the same thing later. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up any right to sue the Defendants for the claims being resolved by this Settlement. 

No. If you excluded yourself, you cannot get a payment from this Settlement. If you excluded yourself, you should not have submitted a Claim Form to ask for benefits because you won’t receive any.

If you are a Class Member, you could have objected to the Settlement if you didn’t like any part of it.   To object, you must have filed with the Court a letter or brief stating that you object to the Settlement, and sent a copy to Class Counsel and Defendant’s Counsel. 

Class Counsel filed with the Court and posted on the website its request for attorneys’ fees.

If you wanted to appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing to object to the Settlement, with or without a lawyer, you must have said so in your letter or brief.  The deadline to file an objection was November 7, 2022 and has passed. 
 

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement.  You can object only if you stay in the Class.  Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class.  If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court held the Final Approval Hearing on December 1, 2022. The purpose of the hearing was for the Court to determine whether to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class; to consider the Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and to consider the request for incentive awards to the Class Representatives.  At that hearing, the Court was available to hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the Settlement. The Court approved the Settlement and issued an Order on December 1, 2022, which can be viewed on the Important Documents page.

The Notice summarizes the Settlement.  More details are in the Settlement Agreement.  You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement at www.GrandeGamesSettlement.com.  You may also write with questions to Grande Games Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, P.O. Box 91221, Seattle, WA 98111.  You can call Class Counsel at 1-646-837-7150, if you have any questions.  Before doing so, however, please read the full Notice carefully. You may also find additional information elsewhere on the case website.