Controversial grading firm Wata Games will now face a class-action lawsuit that accuses the company of “manipulating the retro video game market.” The suit was filed on May 10 in the Central District of California by customers of Wata Games. While the exact number of plaintiffs in the case is unknown, based on Wata Games’ own submission numbers, it could exceed 10,000 people.
Per the case summary: “This case involves video game grading company Wata, Inc. and its parent company, Collector’s Universe, inc., engaging in affirmative acts to manipulate the retro video game market, engaging in unfair business practices, engaging in false advertising, making false statements about the turnaround times for grading services and failing to disclose material delays to customers.”
Reports emerged in August 2021 that Wata Games CEO Deniz Kahn was conspiring with Jim Halperin, the co-founder of Heritage Auctions, to artificially inflate retro video game prices for personal gain. The report alleges that the executives would give their own personal games extremely high grades and then sell them for a large profit. Both companies denied the allegations — Wata Games called them “baseless and defamatory,” while Heritage Auctions said the report contained “numerous misstatements.”
High-profile sales of Wata-graded games by Heritage Auctions have been decorating news headlines in the past year. In July, a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda sold for $870,000. A few days later, a copy of Super Mario 64 went for $1.56 million. That price was trumped in August by a copy of Super Mario Bros., which sold for $2 million.
According to court documents, prior to Wata Games’ influence on the market, the record price for a video game sale was just over $30,000. That amount was for a copy of Super Mario Bros. sold on eBay in July 2017.
