Class-action suit against EA Sports

[JohnnyTheFox]

The anti-monopoly class action lawsuit against EA Sports will be moving to the courts, according to court docs which accuse the publisher of “an unlawful and anti-competitive series of exclusive agreements with the National Football League, the NFL Players Union, Arena Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association."

The class action suit is representing every US resident who purchased a new copy of any Madden NFL, NCAA Football or Arena Football title published by Electronic Arts in the past 7 and a half years.

According to the lawsuit papers, “Electronic Arts has driven its competition out of the market for interactive football software, including most significantly Take Two Interactive Software, Inc., the maker of the interactive football software title NFL 2K5 and has prevented additional competitors from entering the market."

Back in 2004, 2K Sports released its last NFL title, NFL 2K5, which was considered superior to Madden NFL 05, and which also sold for a mere $19.99 USD, as opposed to Madden's $49.99 price tag.

If the plaintiffs win, “The Settlement provides that Electronic Arts will not enter into an exclusive trademark license with the AFL for five years from the date of approval of the Settlement; and that Electronic Arts will not renew its current collegiate football trademark license with the CLC on an exclusive basis for five years after it expires in 2014; and that Electronic Arts will not seek any new exclusive trademark license for the purpose of making football videogames with the CLC, the NCAA, or any NCAA member institution covered by the current exclusive license for five years after the expiration of the current CLC agreement.”

The class action lawsuit was finalized in July, so this suit will probably not reach a verdict as EA has prepared its $27M settlement.

 

[Kangaroo]

Yes it did create a monopoly and hence Madden has gotten worse not better and the EA company as a whole has been driven into the ground by current management.

This is why I have not purchased Madden in since 2005 when I had both games NFL2k5 was way better and then the game was killed because of the licensing agreement.

 

[YosemiteSam]

They should ban them from making Madden for 5 years too. It sucks!

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

Yes it did create a monopoly and hence Madden has gotten worse not better and the EA company as a whole has been driven into the ground by current management.

This is why I have not purchased Madden in since 2005 when I had both games NFL2k5 was way better and then the game was killed because of the licensing agreement.

The 2K series was much, much better. It's still not as good.

 

[a_minimalist]

This is awesome news. It's been well known how horrible both the Madden game and EA the company have been.

 

[MyBad]

They should ban them from making Madden for 5 years too. It sucks!

...and the Battlefield series as well.

 

[CATCH17]

EA is an awful company. Ask any of the Fifa fans that.

 

[Rack]

They should ban them from making Madden for 5 years too. It sucks!

 

[a_minimalist]

...and the Battlefield series as well.

The battlefield series is amazing and hugely successful. It's the sports games that have major issues. Madden and Fifa topping the list

 

[Wolfpack]

So I got a notice for settlement for this somehow.

You would get $6.79 per copy of Madden you bought from 2005+.

I am sure the Lead Attorney is getting $12.00/copy...lol.

 

[Future]

More people whining about EA having the FORESIGHT to buy exclusive rights to the NFL. All I say to 2k fans is tough shnoogies. It's not monopolistic, they just own the rights to make the most desirable product.

I also think that people who find the 2k series to be the better game, have never spent enough time learning the intricacies of Madden. It's not an easy game to learn. Never has been. That's what makes it great. Yes, the game hasn't been as good over the last few years as they've introduced new engines for 360 and ps3, but it's hardly as if the game sucks. People just need to get used to it and understand it's strengths, rather than just suck when they take it out of the case and try to sue Madden.

 

[trickblue]

Joining a Class Action lawsuit is normally a fools game...

The only entity that makes money is the law firm. They get a third of the settlement and the other few hundred thousands split the other two-thirds...

 

[Teren_Kanan]

Don't care about getting anything out of it other than the monopoly being over. Sure hope they win.

And you really think people are trying to sue madden because they are bad at it? how does that even make sense?

I love Madden. I preferred Madden 05 to NFL 2k5 though 2k5 did have some neat features. I still think it's ridiculous that no one else can make an NFL game, and Madden has 0 competition to worry about or push it to do things better. It just regurgitates the same crap out every year now, with 1 or 2 new features. It's awful. They even tend to LOSE features every year as well, this years Madden being a good example of that.

 

[Hoofbite]

More people whining about EA having the FORESIGHT to buy exclusive rights to the NFL. All I say to 2k fans is tough shnoogies. It's not monopolistic, they just own the rights to make the most desirable product.

I also think that people who find the 2k series to be the better game, have never spent enough time learning the intricacies of Madden. It's not an easy game to learn. Never has been. That's what makes it great. Yes, the game hasn't been as good over the last few years as they've introduced new engines for 360 and ps3, but it's hardly as if the game sucks. People just need to get used to it and understand it's strengths, rather than just suck when they take it out of the case and try to sue Madden.

I'm actually glad it has gotten to this level and I hope the outcome is in favor of the gamers.

Best case outcome is more companies getting a crack at producing NFL games in order to force EA to actually put some time in bettering their franchise.

You look at a game like Battlefield where EA is essentially playing catchup to the other FPS games like Call of Duty and Halo, and they've progressed at a rate far greater than the Madden franchise.

 

[Future]

I'm actually glad it has gotten to this level and I hope the outcome is in favor of the gamers.

Best case outcome is more companies getting a crack at producing NFL games in order to force EA to actually put some time in bettering their franchise.

You look at a game like Battlefield where EA is essentially playing catchup to the other FPS games like Call of Duty and Halo, and they've progressed at a rate far greater than the Madden franchise.

I don't disagree that competition would result in a better Madden. But they made one strategic move to take the pressure off. I will never understand why that makes people so mad.

 

[Hoofbite]

I don't disagree that competition would result in a better Madden. But they made one strategic move to take the pressure off. I will never understand why that makes people so mad.

Because it results in a single item that isn't all that great.

It's all there is. You either buy it or don't play football games. If you like those games, I could understand being pissed to have your options be crap or nothing.

 

[Muhast]

Pointless, if you read the article it says NCAA, Arena Football. But the NFL license will remain exclusive.

So they could make NCAA2K but not NFL2k.

Doesn't help me a bit

 

[JonJon]

Because it results in a single item that isn't all that great.

It's all there is. You either buy it or don't play football games. If you like those games, I could understand being pissed to have your options be crap or nothing.

That's exactly the point. In 2005, NFL 2k5 was more advanced than Madden, and it forced EA to go back to the drawing board and make a better product in order to compete.

Competition pushes the envelope and forces companies to reach for new levels. When EA bought the rights, it eliminated all the competition, making the need to push the envelope irrelevant. The result was very few innovations with the Madden series once the competition was gone.

It should be noted though, that it was the NFL that sold the exclusive rights to the highest bidder. If 2K Sports had the funds, they would have had the exclusive rights because they put in a bid along with other companies. It just worked in EA's advantage that they had more revenue than 2K Sports and others.

My whole problem with any company having exclusive rights is that the consumer is the one that loses in the end. I hope this opens up the game for competition again.