Games Developer Alleges VP Went Behind Its Back in ‘Double-Dealing’ Campaign

Basket Entertainment, a developer of online games and mobile apps for the Roblox platform, hired John Cannata as a vice president and added him to its board in July to identify acquisition targets to grow its user base, but Cannata almost immediately “engaged in an outrageous campaign of double-dealing,” alleged Basket’s complaint Monday (docket 2:23-cv-01028) in U.S. District Court for Middle Florida in Fort Myers. Basket alleges Cannata went behind the company’s back and acquired ownership interests in at least two online games for himself “without ever presenting them as opportunities” to his employer, said the complaint. The “usurped games” continue to generate millions of dollars in monthly revenue for Cannata, who “actively concealed his misconduct,” and later “misrepresented his prior and ongoing negotiations and transactions” with the games’ creators, it said. Cannata also “surreptitiously acquired an interest in derivative games that directly compete” with Basket’s titles, it said. In so doing, Cannata “flagrantly breached the most basic fiduciary duties a director and officer owes to a corporation,” said the complaint. Cannata “usurped these lucrative corporate opportunities while Basket was in the middle of a capital raise, causing Basket reputational harm and disrupting cash flow that could have been used to acquire games,” it said. The 12-count complaint seeks compensatory damages and disgorgement of the profits Cannata earned, plus punitive damages “to the extent allowed by law to punish Cannata for the intentional wrongful acts.” Efforts to reach Cannata for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.