Las Vegas Tech Company Firy Wins Record $719 Million Judgment Against Rival Gaming App
A federal court this week ordered Israeli company Papaya Gaming to hand over $719 million to Las Vegas-based Firy, the parent of Skillz, after finding Papaya used computer bots to fake human competition on its mobile game platforms. It's being called the largest award ever issued under the federal false advertising law known as the Lanham Act.
Key takeaways
- A federal court in New York ordered Papaya Gaming to pay Las Vegas-based Firy $719 million, replacing an earlier $420 million jury verdict from April 2026.
- The case centered on claims that Papaya matched paying users with bots instead of real opponents while advertising head-to-head human competition.
- Court filings say Papaya had more bot accounts than human players on its platforms between 2021 and 2024.
- The judgment is described as the largest ever issued under the Lanham Act, the main federal law covering false advertising claims.
Figures drawn from Las Vegas Review-Journal reporting and the July 28, 2026 court order announcement covering the Firy v. Papaya Gaming case.
What the court actually decided
A federal judge in the Southern District of New York this week finalized a $719 million judgment against Papaya Gaming, a mobile skill-gaming company based in Israel. The figure replaces a $420 million jury verdict handed down back in April and is meant to strip away profits the court found Papaya earned unfairly rather than simply punishing the company on top of that.
The company on the winning side of that judgment, Firy, traces its roots to Las Vegas through its Skillz Platform business, which has built competitive mobile gaming technology out of the valley for well over a decade. For a hometown tech name to land the biggest win of its kind under a major federal advertising law is the sort of story that puts Las Vegas on the map well beyond the Strip and casino floor.
The bot problem at the center of the lawsuit
The core allegation, first filed in court back in 2024, was that Papaya told users they were competing head to head against other real people for cash prizes, when in reality a huge share of those matches were quietly filled with automated bot accounts instead. Court records cited in reporting on the case put Papaya's bot count above 13 million, compared with roughly 11 million actual human players over the years in question.
That distinction mattered a great deal to the dollar figures involved. Filings indicate that of roughly $6.7 billion in prize money Papaya advertised as available to winners, a large majority, described as around 70 percent, never actually reached a real customer because the system had a bot on the other side of the match instead.
Why this matters beyond one company's bottom line
Skill-based gaming apps built their pitch around a simple promise: pay to compete, and the best real player wins. When a platform quietly stacks matches with bots, that promise breaks down, and so does the trust that keeps paying users coming back. This case is a reminder that the fine print behind mobile app leaderboards and cash tournaments is not always what it appears to be on the surface.
For the Las Vegas tech scene specifically, a judgment of this size involving a locally rooted company is a notable data point. It signals that companies built here are capable of fighting, and winning, high-stakes legal battles against much larger international competitors on the national stage, not just running local storefronts or back-office operations.
What happens next
A judgment of this size rarely wraps up cleanly overnight. Legal experts who follow large corporate disputes generally expect an appeal process to follow a ruling like this one, and collecting on a $719 million award from an overseas company can take time even after a court has ruled. Attorney fees and costs are also expected to be added on top of the disgorgement figure itself.
For now, the headline number stands as a milestone, the largest disgorgement award tied to the Lanham Act on record, and a story with a genuine hometown thread running through it. We'll keep an eye on how the appeals process plays out and let you know if anything changes.
6 things to know about the case
The basics on the biggest false advertising judgment tied to a Las Vegas company in recent memory.
- Firy is the Las Vegas connection: The company, parent of Skillz Platform, has built competitive mobile gaming technology out of Las Vegas for more than a decade.
- Papaya Gaming is based in Israel: It operates mobile skill-based gaming apps that offered cash prizes for head-to-head matches.
- The lawsuit was filed in 2024: It alleged violations of the federal Lanham Act along with New York advertising law.
- A jury first ruled in April 2026: That initial verdict awarded $420 million before being revised upward.
- The final figure landed at $719 million: A federal judge ordered the larger disgorgement amount this week, plus attorney fees.
- It's called the largest Lanham Act judgment on record: That makes it a landmark case for false advertising law nationally, not just for the two companies involved.
Frequently Asked Questions
What company won the $719 million judgment?
Firy, a Las Vegas-based technology company that owns Skillz Platform, was awarded the judgment against Papaya Gaming.
What did Papaya Gaming do wrong?
A federal court found that Papaya advertised head-to-head matches against real human players while actually filling a large share of those matches with automated bot accounts.
Is this really the biggest judgment of its kind?
Reporting on the case describes it as the largest disgorgement award ever issued under the federal Lanham Act, the main U.S. law covering false advertising claims.
Has Papaya Gaming paid the judgment yet?
Not as of this week. Large corporate judgments like this typically face an appeals process before any payment is finalized.
Sources
- Las Vegas tech firm awarded $719M in false advertising case — Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Federal Court Orders Papaya Gaming to Pay $719 Million to Skillz Platform Inc., a FIRY Company — Business Wire