Ben-DutkaMaybe this was inevitable.
The suit leveled against Electronic Arts concerning the long-running Madden series is going to court. Filed by original Madden NFL designer Robin Antonick in April 2011, the suit alleges that EA has withheld royalties, and Antonick demands a share of the profits that has been generated over the years. Nearly 100 million Madden titles have been sold to date, with revenue in the billions.
A California federal judge denied EA's last attempt to dismiss the case, and court proceedings are scheduled to start on June 17, 2013. Antonick conceived and developed the very first Madden game, which was described as "miraculous" by EA, and now he's seeking tens of millions in restitution. Here's part of the statement made by his legal team:
"We have very compelling evidence indicating that EA used Mr. Antonick's ground-breaking code and design elements as the basis for both past and present Madden NFL titles. Yet, EA has failed to compensate him as required by his agreement or give him proper credit for his work. We look forward to proving our case at trial, and we are very confident that we will prevail."
This could be really bad news for EA. And you know, we might start seeing more of these lawsuits. Designers from the olden days when gaming wasn't big business might be looking to cash in; maybe they worked on a series that got huge, but weren't really around for the explosion, so now they're seeking their just due. …if you want to call it that.
"We have very compelling evidence indicating that EA used Mr. Antonick's ground-breaking code and design elements as the basis for both past and present Madden NFL titles."
No wonder the Madden titles only change in glam and glitter! They're still based off the original code! LOL
Kidding aside, this is the kind of crap that got EA the "Golden Poo" award! It's not that they treat consumers poorly, it's how they treat their employee's etc. Hope they can get this settled without killing the company! I enjoy far more EA titles than any other 3rd Party publisher.
Last edited by PANICinc on 4/30/2013 1:10:08 PM
Look up the EA Spouse blog. They've been doing this for years.
i wish him the best 🙂