Playtech Stock Crashes After Revelation it Orchestrated Evolution ‘Smear Campaign’

Playtech has been identified by Evolution AB as the source of a contentious 2021 report that claimed the Swedish software provider supplied games to operators operating in "banned terror states like Iran, Syria, and Sudan."

Playtech Software Ltd., a division of London and Isle of Man-based Playtech Plc, commissioned the investigation, according to a statement released by Evolution on Tuesday morning. According to the statement, the corporation paid Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube £1.8 million ($2.4 million) to produce the dossier, which Evolution claims is untrue and defamatory.

Playtech shares [LSE: PTEC] fell 34% on Tuesday morning as a result of the announcement. In a statement, the corporation declared that it "stands by the decision to commission the report," which "clearly evidences that Evolution's business practices undermine lawful and compliant gambling operations."

Leaked to the Press

The Newark, New Jersey-based legal firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP (C&K) filed the contentious report to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) in November 2021. They also leaked it to a number of media sources, including Casino.org.

Evolution's stock fell sharply once shareholders learned of the report's contents, erasing $3 billion from its market capitalization.

In December 2021, Evolution filed a lawsuit in the New Jersey Superior Court against C&K and the unnamed company.

The DGE and Pennsylvania's gaming authorities finally came to the conclusion in February 2024 that there was no proof the report's accusations were accurate.

“It is deeply disturbing to learn that one of our competitors has gone to such extraordinary lengths to damage our business and reputation by hiring Black Cube and paying them over £1.8 million to fabricate a report they knew would have extremely harmful repercussions,” Evolution said Monday.

Reveal of Judge Orders

In order for Evolution to determine who it was suing, the New Jersey Superior Court ordered C&K to reveal the identify of the organization that commissioned the report in late February 2024.

Evolution was "entitled to all relevant discovery necessary," according to Judge John C. Porto, who expressed his confidence that the report "lacks veracity."

C&K then identified Black Cube as the report's author, but stated that it was unaware of the client's identity. Black Cube was added as a defendant in an updated case filed by Evolution in June 2025.

Black Cube's appeal of a ruling requiring it to disclose its client's identity was turned down.

Mirrors and Smoke

Many had assumed that a US rival looking to level the playing field in the US online gaming business was behind the research, so the revelation that Playtech was behind it was shocking. Actually, this was what the middleman who sent the report to Casino.org on C&K's behalf had recommended.

Playtech is a London-based, London-listed business with a track record of engaging in gray market activities. Although it now concentrates on regulated markets, the company claimed in its 2020 annual report that "regulated revenue" accounted for 84% of its overall revenue in 2020, meaning that about 16% was not. This was the year it approached Black Cube.