Playtech hired Black Cube — the Israeli intelligence firm — to secretly investigate Evolution Gaming executives. What followed was a string of lawsuits across three continents, explosive allegations of corporate espionage, and a legal battle that could redraw the lines of the live casino industry. Here’s everything you need to know.
🏛️ 3 Courts. 2 Giants. 1 Verdict.
📰 Based on Public Court Filings
🇲🇾 What It Means for MY Operators
The live dealer software market is one of the most fiercely contested segments in global iGaming, and nowhere is that competition more visible than in the ongoing legal war between Evolution Gaming and Playtech. What began as an anonymous investigative report in 2021 has since grown into one of the most closely watched corporate litigation sagas in the industry — complete with intelligence operatives, secret recordings, multi-billion-dollar damage claims, and court-ordered identity disclosures.
For Malaysian players and operators who rely on live casino platforms powered by either provider, understanding this dispute is far more than industry gossip — it directly speaks to the integrity, licensing standing, and competitive conduct of the companies behind the tables you play at.
At its core, the case centres on whether Playtech hired an Israeli intelligence firm called Black Cube to manufacture damaging allegations against Evolution Gaming — and whether those allegations, submitted to US state regulators, constituted defamation, trade libel, fraud, and racketeering.
🃏 Key Figure: Evolution's market capitalisation dropped by billions following the circulation of the 2021 report. Two US regulators ultimately found no evidentiary support for the core claims made in it.
The case spans five years of escalating legal manoeuvres. Here is the verified, court-documented sequence:
According to Evolution's court filings, Playtech hired Black Cube — operating through an entity called Veridicians — to produce a dossier alleging that Evolution's live casino products were accessible in sanctioned and prohibited jurisdictions including Iran, Sudan, and China.
The report was furnished to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board by law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP, and simultaneously leaked to media. Evolution's share price suffered immediate damage. Evolution filed its initial defamation lawsuit against Calcagni & Kanefsky and unnamed co-conspirators.
After reviewing the allegations, both the NJDGE and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board closed their investigations without taking corrective action. The NJDGE found no evidence of illegal bets or inappropriate payments. Both regulatory bodies closed their investigations by February 2024.
The New Jersey Superior Court directed Calcagni & Kanefsky to reveal the identity of the anonymous client and report author, concluding the report was "not truthful" and that Evolution had suffered direct damages as a result.
Following a court order, Calcagni & Kanefsky disclosed Black Cube as the entity responsible for the report. Evolution amended its complaint to add Black Cube as a defendant.
The New Jersey Superior Court ordered Black Cube to reveal who had hired it. The court simultaneously described Black Cube's 2021 report as "objectively baseless." Black Cube attempted to appeal — including an unsuccessful emergency petition to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Under court order, Black Cube identified Playtech as the party responsible for commissioning the report. Evolution immediately moved to add Playtech as a formal defendant, also naming PR executive Juda Engelmayer and alleging fraud, trade libel, and racketeering.
Black Cube filed a new affidavit claiming Evolution content remained accessible in restricted markets into 2025. The court also ordered Evolution to produce documents from its own internal probe. The case shifted toward a complex discovery phase with both parties contesting document access and narrative framing.
Black Cube is a Tel Aviv–based private intelligence firm staffed largely by former Israeli intelligence officers. It has appeared in several high-profile international cases, including work linked to Harvey Weinstein. In the Evolution matter, court filings allege Black Cube investigators used false personas, disguises, and covert recording methods to interview at least five current and former Evolution employees — compiling the results into a regulatory dossier.
A December 2025 affidavit filed by Black Cube director Dr Avi Yanus claimed that Evolution's live dealer content remained accessible from restricted jurisdictions — including France, Russia, Spain, Italy, Singapore, and the UK — well into 2025, sometimes without the use of VPNs. Black Cube asserted that its methodology included IP verification and recorded betting sessions similar to law-enforcement protocols.
Evolution has categorically rejected these claims as self-serving, and the New Jersey Superior Court itself referred to Black Cube's August 2025 affidavit as "self-serving" in its written order.
Investigators allegedly used false identities and secretly recorded current and former Evolution staff.
The report was formally submitted to two US state gaming regulators and leaked to media in 2021.
Evolution claims Playtech agreed to pay Black Cube a substantial success fee if the campaign achieved its objectives.
The New Jersey Superior Court used this language to describe the 2021 Black Cube report in its September 2025 order.
From a purely regulatory standpoint, the findings are decisive in Evolution's favour. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement explicitly stated it found "no evidence showing that Evolution took illegal bets from New Jersey, another state, or any other prohibited jurisdiction," and similarly found no evidence of inappropriate payments. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board arrived at comparable conclusions, closing its investigation without corrective action by February 2024.
Separately, the civil court proceedings have produced increasingly pointed language against the defendants. The New Jersey Superior Court has at various stages found: (1) the report is "not truthful"; (2) it was "objectively baseless"; (3) that Evolution "suffered damages and continues to suffer damages in the casino gaming industry as a direct result" of the defendants' actions.
Neither the New Jersey DGE nor the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board found evidentiary support for the Black Cube report's core allegations, providing the legal basis for subsequent court orders compelling disclosure of Playtech's identity.
However, the litigation is far from resolved. Black Cube's December 2025 counterclaims and new affidavit material have reintroduced factual disputes. The court has also ordered Evolution to produce documents from its own internal investigation — conducted by third-party firm Spectrum Gaming Group — as well as materials from the state regulators' reviews. This discovery phase is expected to prolong proceedings well into 2026.
The formal naming of Playtech as a defendant in October 2025 marked a structural shift in this case. What had been a dispute with a law firm and an unnamed intelligence contractor became a direct confrontation between two of the world's largest live casino software suppliers.
Evolution's amended complaint alleges that Playtech CEO Mor Weizer withheld information about his company's involvement in the scheme from shareholders — a claim with potential securities law implications. The amended filing also adds charges of racketeering under RICO statutes, which, if proven, carry significantly higher damages exposure than straightforward defamation claims.
Playtech, for its part, has maintained that commissioning an investigation into a competitor was a lawful response to what it describes as "credible and repeated concerns" raised by operators, suppliers, and regulators about Evolution's operations. This framing — legitimate due diligence versus commercially motivated sabotage — is now the central factual battleground in New Jersey.
Court filings indicate that Playtech used an intermediary entity called Veridicians to fund Black Cube's work, adding a layer of corporate structuring to the commissioning arrangement. This detail is significant because it supports Evolution's narrative that Playtech took deliberate steps to obscure its involvement — a claim the court appeared to credit when it described the concealment efforts as "extraordinary" in scope.
Malaysia is one of Southeast Asia's most active online casino markets, with live dealer games — particularly those powering baccarat, roulette, and game show formats — accounting for a significant share of player engagement. Both Evolution Gaming and Playtech supply content to platforms accessible to Malaysian users through offshore-licensed operators, making the competitive and reputational dynamics between these providers directly relevant.
The Evolution Gaming versus Playtech Black Cube dispute is more than a corporate grudge match — it is a stress test for competitive conduct standards across the global live casino industry. With two US regulators clearing Evolution, a court describing the original report as "objectively baseless," and Playtech now formally named as the alleged architect of a covert smear campaign, the legal and reputational stakes could not be higher for either company. For Malaysian players and regional operators, monitoring the outcome of this case provides critical intelligence on provider integrity, licensing robustness, and the regulatory exposure of the platforms they choose to partner with or play on. Stay updated on the latest live casino news and game guides at Plus Roulette.
The case centres on allegations that Playtech hired intelligence firm Black Cube to produce and circulate a report accusing Evolution Gaming of operating in prohibited and sanctioned markets. Evolution claims this was a commercially motivated defamation campaign designed to trigger regulatory action and damage its entry into the North American market. Two US state regulators found no evidentiary support for the report's claims, and a New Jersey court subsequently described the report as "objectively baseless."
No. Both the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board conducted independent reviews and closed their investigations without taking any corrective action by February 2024. The NJDGE specifically stated it found no evidence that Evolution took illegal bets or made inappropriate payments. Evolution's licences in both states remain intact.
Through a series of court-ordered disclosures spanning 2025. In February 2025, the New Jersey Superior Court ordered Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP to reveal the identity of the anonymous report author. In April 2025, Black Cube was identified. In September 2025, the court ordered Black Cube to name its client. After Black Cube's unsuccessful appeals — including an emergency petition to the New Jersey Supreme Court — it was forced to disclose Playtech's identity in October 2025.
Evolution's amended complaint, filed in late 2025, includes charges of defamation, trade libel, fraud, and racketeering under RICO statutes. It also alleges that Playtech CEO Mor Weizer withheld information about the company's involvement in the Black Cube campaign from shareholders — a potential securities law issue. Evolution further claims Playtech agreed to pay Black Cube a success fee of approximately £1.5 million contingent on the campaign's objectives being achieved.
Indirectly, yes. Malaysian players using offshore-licensed platforms that offer live dealer games from either Evolution Gaming or Playtech should be aware that this case touches on licensing integrity, geoblocking compliance, and provider stability. Evolution's successful regulatory defence strengthens the credibility of its licensing position. Meanwhile, the ongoing RICO and fraud allegations against Playtech introduce meaningful legal and reputational uncertainty around its operations — factors worth weighing when assessing which platforms to engage with long term.
