Pragmatic Play Pulls Plug on All Sweepstakes Casinos

After announcing the departure of California, Pragmatic Play, a slots game provider, is now leaving the sweepstakes casino industry in the United States altogether, per Next.io. 

In California, Pragmatic Play was listed in a lawsuit against Stake.us, and that is seemingly a catalyst for the studio's decision. 

Pragmatic Play Comments

According to Next.io, a Pragmatic Play spokesperson had this to say: 

“Pragmatic Play has chosen to discontinue licensing its games to sweepstake operators in US States where restrictions were not already in place, in light of regulatory developments and evolving legislation.

"We remain committed to the highest standards of compliance and will continue to engage transparently with regulators.”

In addition to the lawsuit in California, the sweepstakes landscape across many states in the United States has been up in the air, with Connecticut, New Jersey, and Montana passing bans, and New York has a bill on Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk. 

Pragmatic Play doesn't supply games to the real-money online casino market. Until this withdrawal, it provided games in other global markets and the sweepstakes/social casino industry in the United States. 

Perhaps this could pave the way for them to re-enter the United States, but with regulated markets. 

Massive Blow to Sweepstakes Casinos

Pragmatic Play offered sweepstakes casinos in the United States with high-quality slot titles. They provided games to popular sweepstakes casinos like WOW Vegas, Hello Millions, McLuck, and more. 

It'll be interesting to see if any other studios drop out or if this opens the door for another studio to take their place. 

More Information About What's Happening In California

This all started after Pragmatic Play was named in a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney, saying that Stake.us and game providers were part of an illegal gambling ring. 

This prompted Pragmatic Play and Evolution to leave Stake.us in California. 

Now, Pragmatic Play is leaving altogether. 

This lawsuit comes as California's AB 831 looms. This bill would ban sweepstakes casinos. It's headed to the Senate for a full vote, and if it receives 21 of 40 votes, it'll be on the verge of heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk. 

It'll only need to go back through the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee and the Assembly since the bill has changed so much since being introduced. 

We'll see what happens next: Will more studios leave California or the United States? Time will tell.