EA Settle on Madden Lawsuit
A lawsuit filed back in 2008 against EA over a monopoly on American Football licenses has been settled. The settlement entitles you to some money if you own a Madden game too!
The lawsuit led by Pecover claimed that EA’s dominance over the licenses meant that they could raise prices of games by over 70%. They also claimed that EA destroyed the competition with such licenses, leading to the death of the NFL 2K series.
The most damning part of the settlement on EA’s part is that there will be a five year restriction on exclusive licenses with the NCAA from 2014. However, with no rival NCAA game coming from a publisher since 2003, this is little damage to EA.
Now, about your money. If you bought an American Football game from EA Sports from 2005-present you can get: $1.95 for a PS3, 360 or Wii Madden game. $6.95 for a Madden game on PS2, Gamecube or Xbox.
The total settlement cost reached $27 million for EA. Ouch.
