Playtech’s Tuesday trading day was marked by a rapid stock depreciation following revelations that it was one of the company’s subsidiaries, PlaytechSoftware Limited, that had ordered a now-infamous report into Evolution’s alleged illegal operations, supplying its software and games to unlicensed casinos around the world.
When the original report came out in 2021, Evolution suffered billions in damages due to its stock plunging, and now, the tables have turned. While the unwitting observer may think that the legal saga is over, it is hardly so.
Playtech stated on Tuesday, after its stock dropped to £224.50 from £349.50, that it denied allegations by Evolution that the company or its subsidiary had engaged in a "smearing campaign." This argument, Playtech insisted, was used by Evolution to "distract from serious questions about Evolution’s business practices."
In 2020, Playtech hired Black Cube for £1.8m to produce a report which supposedly assessed whether Evolution had sold software and services to unlicensed online casinos which subsequently targeted regulated markets.
The identity of Playtech remained hidden for the past five years, with legal representatives Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP hired to protect the company’s identity and similarly circulate the resulting report across regulators, which they did in 2021, when the report was shared with regulators in NewJersey and Pennsylvania.
The report then spurred Evolution into action, with the company vehemently denying any wrongdoing and seeking to immediately unearth the identity of the entity, person, or persons behind the report.
A lawsuit was filed against Calcagni & Kanefsky in 2021. By February 2024, both NewJersey and Pennsylvania had deemed the report to lack evidential merit and did not find the supplier to have engaged in any prohibited activity.
This brings us to 2025, with Evolution escalating the matter to the New Jersey Superior Court, which finally ordered Black Cube (whose own name was revealed in April that year).
Playtech was finally revealed this month, October 2025, as the entity behind the report – i.e., ordering the report, with Evolution’s boss, Martin Carlesund, finding it shocking to see a large competitor engage in a behavior that is "so bad that it is hard to understand."
However, Playtech has doubled and stands by the original findings of the report, although it is clearly in an unfavorable situation:
"The report published, as a result of the investigation, clearly evidences that Evolution’s business practices undermine lawful and compliant gambling operations. Such conduct damages trust in the credibility of the entire industry and also ultimately impacts government tax collection."
According to the company, Playtech is seeking to avoid legitimate scrutiny and answer longstanding questions about its conduct, and "its decision to supply operators in illegal markets and to support unlicensed operators in regulated markets."
Playtech has argued that further investigations will confirm the findings of the report, whereas Evolution is most likely to pursue damages.
