The Game just lost his appeal for a new trial in a civil suit in which he was accused of sexual assault ... so he's still on the hook for more than $7 million in damages.
According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the rapper was denied a new trial by a federal appeals court in Illinois.
As we've reported ... Game lost the lawsuit filed by Priscilla Rainey -- a former contestant on his 2015 reality show, "She's Got Game," who accused him of sexual assault -- and an Illinois court ordered him to pay her $7.13 mil.
Rainey claims Game was high on drugs and reached inside her dress, "forcefully reaching his hand inside her dress to rub her bare vagina and buttocks." Game called her "a thirsty Gatorade mascot of a transvestite."
Game appealed the initial ruling, but on Thursday the appeals court affirmed the lower court's ruling, slamming Game for blowing off the trial by not showing up and calling his conduct towards Rainey "deeply reprehensible."
We reached to Game's camp for comment ... so far, no word back.