Madden NFL 13 News Post

$27 Million Settlement Announced in EA Madden Price-Fixing Lawsuit

09:18 PM - July 20, 2012 by Steve_OS

A proposed settlement was filed this evening in the lawsuit filed by consumers against EA regarding its exclusive license agreements with the NFL, NCAA and AFL.

Owen Good, over at Kotaku has been following along and explains it very well, right here.

The full details on the proposed settlement below. You can also download a copy of the proposed settlement, right here.

$27 Million Settlement Announced in EA Madden Price-fixing Lawsuit

SAN FRANCISCO � Attorneys representing purchasers of Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) (�EA�) football video games have reached a proposed settlement over claims that the gaming giant violated antitrust and consumer protection laws and overcharged consumers for the games.

The case, originally filed June 5, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that EA violated antitrust and consumer protection laws by establishing exclusive license agreements with the National Football League (NFL), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Arena Football League (AFL). The agreements gave EA the exclusive right to produce football video games with the teams, players and other assets of the NFL, AFL and NCAA, the lawsuit states.

The proposed settlement, filed with the court on July 19, 2012, would establish a $27 million fund for consumers who purchased Madden NFL, NCAA Football or AFL games published by EA. If the settlement is approved by the court, consumers who purchased a sixth generation title (GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox) may receive up to $6.79 per game. Those who purchased a seventh generation title (Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) may be entitled to as much as $1.95 per game under the terms of the proposed settlement.

It also stipulates that EA will not sign an exclusive license arrangement with the AFL for five years and will not renew its current agreement with the NCAA, which expires in 2014, for at least five years.

�After more than four years of hard-fought litigation, we have reached a settlement that we strongly believe is fair to consumers,� said attorney Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, the law firm representing consumers. �We look forward to moving this process forward and asking the court to approve this settlement, which we think is in the best interests of the class.�

On April 6, 2011, the court certified a class of consumers in the case, including all persons who purchased Madden NFL, NCAA Football or AFL games published by EA between January 1, 2005, and the present.

The proposed settlement must be approved by the court before it is final.

Consumers can learn more about this case by visiting www.hbsslaw.com/maddennfl. You can also contact Hagens Berman, lead-counsel in the action, by emailing [email protected].

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Member Comments

# 41 shuttdown @ 07/21/12 12:18 AM

I dont know where all of this automatic 2k love is coming from. Does anyone remember the train wreck that was All Pro?

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

# 42 SageInfinite @ 07/21/12 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuttdown


	I dont know where all of this automatic 2k love is coming from. Does anyone remember the train wreck that was All Pro? Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

Yeah the best on-field gameplay this gen, sure was a wreck.

# 43 scoonie05 @ 07/21/12 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Scarface


	No one can't stop the NFL from giving an Exclusive license. The NFL is a PRIVATE ENTITY. So EA can re-up if the NFL wants to. You cannot force the NFL to license you a game. They can do a defacto exclusive by giving one license out...period. This changes nothing.

LOL. Let them have their moment......shhh

# 44 SageInfinite @ 07/21/12 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goravens2052


	I think they would just keep the Show Brand going and call it NFL The Show, or NCAA The Show. I doubt it would be like gameday, considering what they have done with MLB The Show, it will definitely be an improvement over Gameday and would be great competition for EA.

Yeah but they also had an NBA game this gen, which was just horrible. I wouldn't be excited if Sony got a chance until I saw the game.

# 45 blklightning @ 07/21/12 12:37 AM

At this point, I'll settle for NCAA 2K. Anything is better than having no choice at all.

# 46 DickDalewood @ 07/21/12 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shuttdown


	I dont know where all of this automatic 2k love is coming from. Does anyone remember the train wreck that was All Pro? Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

Train wreck? A bit on the barebones side, sure, but on the field, that game is the best playing representation of football ever made.

# 47 rollie619 @ 07/21/12 12:44 AM

so does anyone know how we actually get our money

# 48 DickDalewood @ 07/21/12 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goravens2052


	I think they would just keep the Show Brand going and call it NFL The Show, or NCAA The Show. I doubt it would be like gameday, considering what they have done with MLB The Show, it will definitely be an improvement over Gameday and would be great competition for EA.

It's called MLB The Show because of its create-a-player mode, and the fact that pro baseball players refer to the bigs as "The Show". It's a baseball reference; using it for an NFL game would make zero sense.

Regardless, The Show developers are their own separate team. That game being good has no bearing on the quality of an NFL title... The SCEA basketball title was absolutely awful.

# 49 TreFacTor @ 07/21/12 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollie619


	so does anyone know how we actually get our money

If your a part of the class action suit, and are entitled to a part of the settlement the law firm will notify you and give you instructions on how to claim your share. Or they might put instructions on the law firms site. I think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerseySuave4


	So great i'd get about $10. But i bet you have to have receipts of your purchase as proof otherwise how can they prove who bought which games? So i guess i'll be getting maybe $3.90 if i'm lucky enough to even find any receipts laying around. In the end is this really going to change much? It doesn't seem like the money is there for companies to be able to throw their eggs in a bunch of different baskets. It seems like companies, other than EA, are trying to focus on a few things and get really good at those so i doubt we'll see a new football game outside EA soon.

If you still have the games, that might be enough say like send a pic of your collection... I doubt they expect everyone to have every receipt. I think I'm only missing 08 from my collection that spans the time frame of the suit.

# 50 roadman @ 07/21/12 01:22 AM

When the plaintiffs first started this case in 08, they were going after the NFL exclusive license.

They settled for much less than that. As the article says, after 2014, EA can sign a non-exclusive license with NCAA and call it a day. EA hasn't made a AFL game since 2007.

Wow.

# 51 SteelerSpartan @ 07/21/12 01:24 AM

If this helps get a more realistic game of ball out there.....then Im all for it

# 52 RandyBass @ 07/21/12 01:54 AM

This is basically nothing. Doesn't change anything. $27 million may sound like a lot, but in the grand scheme of things EA's position is more or less unchanged. They still got their prized NFL license all to themselves, and will likely fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.

# 53 Kanobi @ 07/21/12 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandyBass


	This is basically nothing. Doesn't change anything. $27 million may sound like a lot, but in the grand scheme of things EA's position is more or less unchanged. They still got their prized NFL license all to themselves, and will likely fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.

Spoiler

# 54 TheTruth437 @ 07/21/12 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DickDalewood


	Train wreck? A bit on the barebones side, sure, but on the field, that game is the best playing representation of football ever made.

Yes, I would agree with APF2k8 having the best overall gameplay of any football game. But I believe many people overrate NFL2k5 and APF2k8. Either way, I hope that we finally get competition again, which I firmly believe will help with the all-around quality of football games.

# 55 pinksheets @ 07/21/12 02:42 AM

Sounds like they sued for the kitchen sink, but were willing to settle for everything but the kitchen sink, which EA gave.

I'll gladly accept some money from EA, but I consider this whole thing an entirely pointless failure.

# 56 cattlekiller @ 07/21/12 04:49 AM

If we ever get another NFL game by someone other than EA, I just hope they bring NFL football back to the PC.

# 57 truintellectplaya @ 07/21/12 06:03 AM

Cool, I hate what the exclusive mess has done to the sports gaming industry. I lost two of my favorite games to the exclusive mess. NFL 2K and MVP Baseball. I hate EA because they killed my joy of playing football games. They are simply horrible. On the other hand, 2K was and is more of a inventor of new ways to play games than EA or Sony or any of the other names. That is why 2K did not kill my will to play baseball games. There pitching and batting interaction is far greater than anything "The Show" can give you. So, that is the reason why most of us think 2K when we talk about someone that could bring the interest back to football gaming because EA never even tries to do anything other than marketing and Sony has never exceeded on a high level with any sports game other than the Show. They failed with Shootout and all there football games. 2K destroyed real competition with NBA 2K and was well on there way with NFL 2K.

I will take anyone but 2K is the most qualified to do the job of directly competing and defeating a marketing giant like EA. Hopefully we want be let down with no-one jumping in to NCAA. I personally think the saga will continue. 2K will make College Football and EA will bring back baseball next gen. Hopefully we will all love both products.

# 58 Goffs @ 07/21/12 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cattlekiller


	If we ever get another NFL game by someone other than EA, I just hope they bring NFL football back to the PC.

I would love to see EA sports line up on the PC side of things....I can finally use Origins other than BF3 and Mass Effect 3.

# 59 marcbitw1992 @ 07/21/12 07:02 AM

im just hoping for some 2k college hoops and nfl !

# 60 poopoop @ 07/21/12 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PioneerRaptor


	I guess we should start suing anyone that has exclusive deals. Sue Sony for making games only for their console, Microsoft too. Oh, let's sue DirecTV for being the only people the NFL Sunday Ticket too.

It's not feasible to sue everyone with exclusive deals, but seeing one of them get taken down via lawsuit is a win. DirectTV being only company with Sunday Ticket is a bad thing, unless you happen to love direct tv.

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