New Jersey court forces full disclosure of DGE and PGCB communications – Evolution’s “we’ve always been clean” narrative now faces its toughest testBy Gabriel Lux | December 12, 2025In a move that just turned the volume up to eleven on the ugliest corporate feud in live casino history, a New Jersey Superior Court judge has ordered Evolution AB to produce the one thing it has spent four years praying nobody would ever see: every single email, submission, interview note, and third-party report it ever handed to U.S. regulators about the 2021 “sanctions markets” allegations.Yes, the actual files. Not the carefully lawyered press release version. The raw, unredacted regulator-facing evidence.The discovery order, issued late last week, is brutally broad:

  • All submissions to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) and Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) concerning the 2021 dossier
  • Every piece of correspondence with those regulators sent or received about the allegations
  • Identities, notes, and (if they exist) transcripts of every Evolution employee interviewed during the multi-year probes
  • The full Spectrum Gaming Group independent report that Evolution itself commissioned and supplied to regulators

For context: both the NJDGE and PGCB closed their investigations in 2024 with no enforcement action, a result Evolution has brandished like a papal indulgence ever since. The company’s line has been simple and repetitive – “fully exonerated, nothing to see here, move along.”This ruling just detonated that narrative.

Why This Disclosure Actually Matters (And Why Evolution Is Panicking)

Let’s be crystal: the regulators’ public “no action” letters are meaningless in a defamation trial. They prove nothing about the underlying truth of the 2021 claims, only that the evidence didn’t cross whatever internal enforcement threshold the DGE and PGCB use. Courts have said this explicitly and repeatedly.What matters in the defamation courtroom is whether Playtech’s dossier – compiled by ex-Mossad outfit Black Cube and funded to the tune of several million dollars – contained statements that were materially false and made with actual malice.Until now, Evolution’s legal strategy rested on pointing at those regulator closure letters and saying “see, even the cops said we’re innocent.” Playtech’s counter has been: “Great, then show us exactly what you told the cops.”Evolution fought tooth and nail to keep those files sealed, claiming privilege and “confidentiality obligations.” The judge just called that bluff and slammed the door on every objection.

The Real-World Consequences

  • Internal inconsistencies risk
    If the documents Evolution gave regulators differ in any material way from its public statements (or, worse, from what its executives said under oath in deposition), the “actual malice” element becomes child’s play for Playtech’s lawyers.
  • Spectrum report wildcard
    Evolution commissioned Spectrum Gaming Group – widely respected, fully independent – precisely to convince regulators it was clean. If that report contains even mild criticism or qualifiers that Evolution later airbrushed in public, the damage will be catastrophic.
  • Employee interview exposure
    Regulators interviewed multiple Evolution staff, some almost certainly under caution. Any deviation between those 2022–2023 statements and current trial testimony equals perjury risk or, at minimum, credibility annihilation.

The Bigger Picture Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud

This isn’t just a defamation spat between two greedy suppliers. It’s the moment the entire live casino sector gets dragged into daylight.Evolution has spent half a decade building a moat around the claim that it alone among major providers has an immaculate compliance record. That moat was always built on regulator silence, not transparency.Playtech’s aggressive (some would say reckless) decision to hire Black Cube forced the issue. Love or hate the tactic, it worked: either Evolution’s internal files will vindicate its “we never touched a sanctioned market” story, or they won’t. And if they don’t? The knock-on effects hit every licensee running Evolution tables in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Ontario. Operators have been comfortably hiding behind “the regulator cleared them” for years. That comfort blanket just got yanked away.

Bottom Line

Evolution shares dropped 6 % on the news yesterday for a reason. This disclosure doesn’t just threaten the defamation case – it threatens the foundational myth that has justified Evolution’s 70 % gross gaming revenue margins and 35x EBITDA multiple for half a decade.The judge basically told Evolution: put up or shut up.Trial is scheduled for Q3 2026. Discovery closes in April.Popcorn futures just went parabolic.

Disclaimer: This article and its accompanying images may have been enhanced using AI tools to ensure smoother content delivery and visual appeal.

Contact us

4 + 6 =