James “Phantoml0rd” Varga’s court case against top gaming-endemic livestreaming platform Twitch now has a trial date set for Oct. 19 despite numerous delays.
While proceedings took a break amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Superior Court of California judge Curtis Karnow signed off on the new date that’s just a few short months away, according to Richard Lewis.
The case comes after Varga was banned on Twitch four years ago after Skype conversations were made public that revealed his involvement in a CS:GO gambling website.
Along with apparently having ownership in “CSGOShuffle,” the Skype conversations revealed that he was allegedly working with a coder to place bets with insider information. While those Skype conversations are considered to be the likely reason for his ban, Twitch didn’t release any statement at the time explaining his ban.
Almost two years later, Varga filed a lawsuit against Twitch on Feb. 14, 2018. Twitch responded with a cross-complaint of its own.
Since then, proceedings have largely revolved around the amount of potential damages that Varga could sue for. While Twitch was shooting for a cap to be set at $50,000, significantly lower than the $35 million in damages he’s seeking, a judge ultimately ruled that the $50,000 was “unconscionable” in December 2019.
Though the trial date is set, there are still a couple of events to watch out for prior to October. For now, though, Twitch recently requested an extension for its motion for summary judgment, which will likely be lengthy and could be submitted soon.
