NEW YORK, April 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gainey McKenna & Egleston announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Playstudios, Inc. (“Playstudios” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: MYPS) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of investors who purchased Playstudios stock between June 22, 2021 and March 4, 2022, both dates inclusive, including, but not limited to, those who purchased or acquired Playstudios securities pursuant to the private investment in public equity offering (“PIPE” offering); (2) held common stock of Acies Acquisition Corp. (“Acies”) as of May 25, 2021, and were eligible to vote at Acies’ June 16, 2021 special meeting and exchanged their shares of Acies stock for shares of Playstudios stock pursuant to the merger of Acies and Old Playstudios, a privately-held gaming company (the “Merger”); and/or (3) purchased or otherwise acquired Playstudios common stock pursuant to or traceable to the Acies’ Registration Statement and Proxy Statement issued in connection with the Merger.
On February 1, 2021, Acies announced that it had reached a merger agreement with Old Playstudios (the “Merger Agreement”). Playstudios represented that the transaction implied an enterprise valuation for Playstudios of $1.1 billion and that the consideration to Old Playstudios shareholders for the Merger would comprise at least 89.1 million shares of Acies common stock, worth $10 per share, up to $150 million in cash, and a $250 million PIPE investment of Acies common stock.
The Complaint alleges that Defendants allegedly made misleading statements and omissions regarding the true state of Playstudios’ development of its flagship game Kingdom Boss, and about its financial projections and future prospects, including in the Registration Statement and Proxy Statement. In the Registration Statement and Proxy Statement, Playstudios represented that “Kingdom Boss, which began development in 2020, will launch as expected in the second half of 2021.” However, Defendants knew that Kingdom Boss had encountered difficulties in its design and implementation that would cause the launch to be substantially delayed. In fact, only a few months later, it was revealed that Kingdom Boss would never be launched. Consequently, the 2021 and 2022 projected revenues and profits were inflated and unreliable.
On August 11, 2021, Playstudios released its financial results for the second quarter of 2021, ended on June 30, 2021. The financial results reported for the quarter were finalized on June 30, 2021, just nine days after the Merger closed. Playstudios revealed for the first time on August 11, 2021 that the Kingdom Boss launch was delayed until later in the year and investors should expect decreased revenues and profits during the year as a result. Then, On February 26, 2022, Paystudios CEO Andrew Pascal attributed the failure to meet the revenue and earnings projections to the failure to launch Kingdom Boss, and revealed that Kingdom Boss was not only delayed, but indefinitely “suspended.”
On February 28, 2022, a securities analyst published an article entitled "Getting Played by Playstudios". In that article, he wrote: “I feel lied to. Or they were disastrously wrong about the prospects for their own company. Either way, it’s not good.” On March 3, 2022, Playstudios filed its 10-K, which confirmed the extent of costs attributable to Kingdom Boss' failed launch.
Investors who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of Playstudios should contact the Firm prior to the June 6, 2022 lead plaintiff motion deadline. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. If you wish to discuss your rights or interests regarding this class action, please contact Thomas J. McKenna, Esq. or Gregory M. Egleston, Esq. of Gainey McKenna & Egleston at (212) 983-1300, or via e-mail at tjmckenna@gme-law.com or gegleston@gme-law.com.
Please visit our website at http://www.gme-law.com for more information about the firm.
