Light & Wonder president and CEO Matt Wilson has insisted that a new version of Dragon Train currently being developed will ensure the franchise remains a key part of its gaming portfolio for “years to come.”
Wilson confirmed that a recent ruling preventing the company from carrying out any continued or planned sale, leasing or other commercialisation of the original product will affect operations in the US and Australia.
The litigation involving Dragon Train and the subsequent ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Nevada followed a legal victory for Aristocrat Technologies.
Aristocrat secured a preliminary injunction against Light & Wonder, claiming the misappropriation of trade secrets and the infringement of intellectual property.
Wilson, clearing the air over the Dragon Train controversy ahead of G2E Las Vegas with a pre-recorded video statement, said the designer behind Dragon Train has had their employment terminated.
Wilson said Light & Wonder will build a new version of Dragon Train “in compliance with the order” and that the company is “working actively on this right now.”
“It’s a very high priority for us, and we’re working quickly to get that out,” he said.
“We expect Dragon Train will continue to be a franchise in our portfolio for many years to come, in the same way Dancing Drums, Huff N' Puff and Ultimate Fire Link are.”
He said that “a lot of elements” of the original Dragon Train have been left unchallenged by the order and can be taken forward to the new version, with only certain aspects of the game’s mathematics questioned.
Dragon Train’s art, sounds, animation and features such as the secondary Hold and Re-spin feature have all been unaffected, Wilson said.
Around 2,200 units of the title currently installed in the United States market will be affected.
“[I’m] happy to say that this time we’ve not had a single removal request from our customers, and we have a line-up of great games from a deep portfolio of franchises such as Huff N' Puff and The Wizard of Oz, from which we can back-build these requests,” Wilson said of the effect of the ruling on Light & Wonder’s US operations.
“We are working hard with our customers to install these games as quickly as possible so that Dragon Train is taken out of the fleet – and that’s our immediate priority.”
In Australia, Wilson said Shenlong Unleashed will be among the games that are now expected to “fill our sales pipeline.”
“We’re really looking to make sure that we capture as much of that opportunity in the fourth quarter and beyond as we start to scale these new versions of products.”
