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| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES |
NOTE 18—COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Minimum Guarantee Liability
The following are the Company’s total minimum guaranteed obligations:
The following are the Company’s remaining expected future payments of minimum guarantee obligations as of December 31, 2023:
N3TWORK, Inc.
On November 22, 2021, the Company entered into agreements with N3TWORK Inc. and The Tetris Company, LLC pursuant to which the Company acquired the rights to develop and operate Tetris®-branded mobile games for an initial term through August 2024. The Company paid N3TWORK Inc. $13.0 million at closing and agreed to pay up to an additional $34.0 million subject to satisfaction of certain conditions (the "Contingent Payments").
Certain conditions of the Contingent Payments have been satisfied as of December 31, 2023. The Company's best estimate of $17.0 million of the Contingent Payments is an expected payment of $7.4 million. The Company recorded an increase in "Intangible assets and internal-use software, net" within the Consolidated Balance Sheets related to the partial settlement of Contingent Payments.
As of December 31, 2023, the Company advanced $8.0 million of the Contingent Payments (the "Advance Payment"). $6.1 million of the Advance Payment was considered earned as of December 31, 2023, which is included within "Other current assets" within the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The remaining amount of Contingent Payments as of December 31, 2023 was approximately $10.9 million, of which $1.9 million was considered the unearned portion of the Advance Payment.
Legal Proceedings
The Company is party to ordinary and routine litigation incidental to its business. On a case-by-case basis, the Company engages inside and outside counsel to assess the probability of potential liability resulting from such litigation. After making such assessments, the Company makes an accrual for the estimated loss only when the loss is reasonably probable and an amount can be reasonably estimated. The Company does not expect the outcome of any pending litigation to have a material effect on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets, Consolidated Statements of Operations, or Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
On March 2, 2021, a lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, by a purported Acies shareholder in connection with the Acies Merger: McCart v. Acies Acquisition Corp., et al. (Sup. Ct. L.A. County) (the “McCart Complaint”). The McCart Complaint names Acies and members of Acies’ board of directors as defendants. The McCart Complaint alleges breaches of fiduciary duties against members of Acies’ board of directors and aiding and abetting the board of directors’ alleged breaches of fiduciary duties against Acies. The McCart Complaint also alleges that the registration statement for the Acies Merger was materially deficient and omitted and/or misrepresented material information including, among other things, certain financial information, certain details regarding Acies’ financial advisors, and other information relating to the background of the Acies Merger. The McCart Complaint generally sought to recover damages related to the Acies Merger. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff on August 6, 2021.
Another purported Acies shareholder sent a demand letter on February 19, 2021, making similar allegations as those made in the McCart Complaint and demanding additional disclosure regarding the Acies Merger. We have not received any further correspondence from such shareholder.
We are a party to a pending litigation matter brought by TeamSava d.o.o. Beograd, or TeamSava, and other related parties. The plaintiffs filed a Statement of Claim in May 2021 in Tel Aviv District Court in Israel, alleging claims, among other things, that we breached the terms of a commercial contract relating to services provided by TeamSava and related parties in connection with the sourcing and administrative management of personnel in Serbia who provided game development services exclusively for us. The pending litigation seeks damages of 27.3 million New Israeli Shekels (NIS) (or
approximately $7.5 million based on prevailing exchange rates as of December 31, 2023). On November 30, 2023, we entered into a settlement agreement to resolve and settle all claims brought by the plaintiffs against the Company, its Israeli subsidiary and its employees and former employees, and all claims brought by the Company's affiliates against the plaintiffs. The settlement is contingent upon the confirmation by the respective courts in Israel and Serbia that all related lawsuits have been dismissed. The Company expects to finalize the settlement before June 30, 2024, but cannot make any assurances that it will be completed by the date, or that one or more of the parties withdraw from the settlement.
On April 6, 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, by a purported Company shareholder in connection with alleged federal securities law violations: Christian A. Felipe et. al. v. PLAYSTUDIOS, Inc. (the “Felipe Complaint”). On July 15, 2022, the Felipe Complaint was transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Southern Division. On October 4, 2022, the plaintiffs filed an amendment to the Felipe Complaint. The Felipe Complaint names the Company, several current and former board members of the Company, board members and officers of Acies Acquisition Corp., and Andrew Pascal, the Company’s Chairman and CEO, as defendants. The Felipe Complaint alleges misrepresentations and omissions regarding the state of the Company’s development of the Kingdom Boss game and its financial projections and future prospects in the S-4 Registration Statement filed by Acies that was declared effective on May 25, 2021, the Proxy Statement filed by Acies on May 25, 2021, and other public statements that touted Old PLAYSTUDIOS’ and the Company’s financial performance and operations, including statements made on earnings calls and the Amended S-1 Registration Statement filed by the Company that was declared effective on July 30, 2021. The Felipe Complaint alleges that the misrepresentations and omissions resulted in stock price drops of 13% on August 12, 2021, and 5% on February 25, 2022, following (i) the Company’s release of financial results for the second quarter of 2021, ended on June 30, 2021, and (ii) the filing of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and issuance of a press release summarizing financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021, respectively. The Felipe Complaint seeks an award of damages for an unspecified amount. The Company believes that the claims are without merit and the Company intends to vigorously defend against them; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in the defense of this litigation. The Company is not able to reasonably estimate the probability or amount of loss and therefore has not made any accruals.
On March 8, 2023, Angel Deann Pilati, a purported adult resident citizen of Franklin County, Alabama, filed a civil lawsuit against PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC in the Circuit Court of Franklin County Alabama, alleging that PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC makes available online games and applications across multiple platforms that are games of chance and thus illegal gambling under Alabama law and seeking to recover, under Alabama’s loss recovery act, all sums paid by Alabama residents to PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC in its online gambling games during the period beginning one year before the filing of the complaint until the case is resolved. On August 23, 2023, the plaintiff amended the complaint to exclude recovery for Alabama residents who lost $75,000 or more during the statute of limitations period. The plaintiff claims to seek this recovery "to go to the benefit of the families" of players who paid money to play the games. The Company believes the claims are without merit and intends to vigorously defend against them; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in the defense of this litigation. The Company is not able to reasonably estimate the probability or amount of loss relating to this litigation and therefore has not made any accruals.
On November 13, 2023, Sandra Tucker Duckworth, a purported citizen of Tennessee, filed a civil lawsuit against PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC in the Circuit Court for the 14th Judicial District of Tennessee alleging that PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC makes available online games of chance that constitute illegal gambling under Tennessee law and seeking to recover, under Tennessee's loss recovery act, all sums paid by Tennessee residents to PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC in its online gambling games during the period beginning one year before the filing of the lawsuit until the case is resolved, excluding recovery of money lost by a Tennessee resident who lost $75,000 or more during the statute of limitations period. The plaintiff claims to seek this recovery for the benefit of each individual player's spouse, or if not spouse, child or children, and if not child or children, the next of kin. The Company believes the claims are without merit and intends to vigorously defend against them; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in the defense of this litigation. The Company is not able to reasonably estimate the probability or amount of loss relating to this litigation and therefore has not made any accruals.
On February 20, 2024, Tyler Kuhk, a purported citizen of Washington, filed a class action lawsuit against PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC in the Superior Court of the State of Washington for the County of King, alleging that PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC makes available online games of chance that constitute illegal gambling under Washington law, that PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by advertising to and soliciting the general public in Washington state to play its unlawful online casino games of chance, and that PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC was unjustly enriched by this conduct. The plaintiff seeks to recover all sums paid by Washington residents to PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC in its online gambling games during an unspecified period of time under Washington’s “Recovery of money lost gambling” statute, for treble damages under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, and for disgorgement and restitution of any money
PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC has retained through unlawful and/or wrongful conduct alleged in the lawsuit. The Company believes the claims are without merit and intends to vigorously defend against them; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in the defense of this litigation. The Company is not able to reasonably estimate the probability or amount of loss relating to this litigation and therefore has not made any accruals.
The Company received four demands for arbitration during 2023 claiming that the games operated by PLAYSTUDIOS US, LLC constitute illegal gambling under the laws of various states. These demands generally attempt to recover amounts spent by third parties on the Company’s games by relying on state gambling loss recovery statutes and/or by seeking to have the applicable Terms of Service declared invalid. The Company believes that the claims are without merit and the Company intends to vigorously defend against them; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in the defense of this litigation. The Company is not able to reasonably estimate the probability or amount of loss and therefore has not made any accruals.
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