Amazon Reaches Settlement in $201 Million Social Casino Lawsuit

A lawsuit against Amazon that was heading toward an October trial over social casino apps has instead produced a proposed settlement with an unusual structure.

Plaintiff Steven Horn asked a federal court in Seattle on July 9 to preliminarily approve the deal. Horn sued Amazon in November 2023, claiming the company broke state gambling law in Washington by brokering the sale of virtual chips in social casino apps on the Amazon Appstore and taking a 30% cut of every purchase.

The settlement is built around a $201 million judgment against Amazon, a figure equal to 30% of what class members spent in the apps. But the plaintiffs agreed not to collect that money from Amazon. Instead, Amazon will pay $2.5 million up front to cover notice and administration, and it will hand over its contractual right to be repaid by the app developers. A litigation trust run by the plaintiff's lawyers will then pursue those 32 developers for the money. Amazon is released from the case, and the developers that built the games are left on the hook.

The class covers anyone in the United States who bought in-app chips in the covered apps between Nov. 10, 2019, and Nov. 10, 2025. Lawyers on the plaintiff’s side estimate the group numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

Collections

For people who played, payouts would come as the trust collects from developers. Those who spent more get more, both in raw dollars and as a share of their losses. Developers who settle quickly pay 80% of their share and are allowed to use cheaper payment processors instead of Amazon's for three years.

The deal also forces changes to the games. Players who run out of chips must be able to keep playing at least one game for free, and developers must offer tools to limit spending or shut down accounts.

Amazon denies any wrongdoing but is not opposing the deal.

A judge still has to sign off.