Lawsuit Claimed Against EA

A new class-action lawsuit against Electronic Arts has been filed in response to a price inflation on all Madden titles by up to 70%. EA has an exclusive agreement with the NFL in accordance with these price inflations and has violated the antitrust and consumer protection laws by holding these exclusive licenses with the NFL, and other major companies (NCAA and Arena Football League).

[49erguy]

Madden has football gamers by the balls and things will continue to be that way until this exclusivity shit is KILLED.

Bring back Dan Stevens and Peter O' Keefe!!!!!!!!

I SUPPORT THE STAND AGAINST MADDEN

[Cevapi88]

i doubt this will get any strong footing, but its good to see that the issue has been brought to the forefront...i doubt EA will do anything about the quality of their Madden games...each year they hype one minimal "improvement" and claim it warrants a $60 purchase....and i put improvements in quotation marks, because some of the changes arent seen as positives when looking at the feedback the recent Madden has gotten...EA bought the ESPN license, yet they continue to ram that annoying "EA ITS IN THE GAME" every chance they get at us as though we are mentally challenged to figure out that EA made the game...such a wasted opportunity imo

[MAJ0R]

I think it could do well because it a big problem and the evidence is not in EA's favor, and good for them for actually finding out they could sue them for that because it'a a legit reason that no one has thought of before

[omegaheat]

There's no denying that these guys have a compelling argument. There really should be some limits to acquisition and exclusivity at some point. It was very dirty of EA to pay for an exclusive lisence just because they were too lazy to produce a product that would be worthy of the 60 bucks gamers paid each year for Madden's annual release. The one factor that could hurt EA in this case is the fact that after purchasing the exclusive lisence, they hiked the retail price for Madden back up after the competition was no longer an issue. Believe me, if they could have afforded to buy the NBA license, they would have. NBA2K11 from 2K Sports is so good that EA had to cancel it's own long running NBA Live (aka Elite) franchise. This information could benefit the plaintiffs.

[bayport]

Yeah they are really taking a dump on football gamers.. The quality of their games is such crap....

2k needs to make a comeback.

[alousow]

MAdden sucks they should give we need bak!

[-Alpha]

Hearing about 2K losing licensing really pissed me off. Back when EA was the Activision of today the tactic came off as lazy and immoral. Basically they couldn't compete with the amazing quality of the competition so they used their money to buy out the NFL. It thus allowed them to continue in mediocrity/doing very little to push themselves. Competition breeds excellence and EA couldn't keep up.

Unfortunately it works as history repeats itself to this day.

[Cevapi88]

i agree with you, but the NFL came to EA with exclusivity rights...back then EA had the money to lock down the license...if Take 2 would have taken such a large gamble, it would have been detrimental to the company if the sales didnt pan out, plus they couldnt even compete with the money that EA was shelling out

look at the competition in the NBA games....EA cancelled their game due to 2K just outshining them every year...2K11 is the biggest improvement in the series....when was the last time you saw EA do that....they expected yearly roster updates to compete with a game that kept improving...no wonder Madden has become stale...the only reason Fifa has become credible again is because PES handed it to them last gen plus there isnt enough money to lockdown both the NFL and all the European Premiere Leagues

[Soldierone]

Ummmm....people have this all wrong. It wasn't EA or EA's idea to pay off the NFL for rights. It was the NFL that came to EA and said "if you want to make games with our content, pay for it" which lead to an exclusive deal. Then 2k went and did the same to the MLB, thus MVP baseball was lost (thankfully Sony made The Show so we were not stuck with 2k's crap). Then both companies tried to get the NHL but the NHL sold both of them contract to use their content, same with the NBA.

So in otherwords the NFL greedy style busines (which is wideley known beyond video games) is what you should be mad at. Its their business structure that sucks, not EA's.

Either way 2K was good competition to make EA strive harder, but their games suck. Look at how their NHL titles cant compete with EA, how their baseball titles slump compared to The Show, and so on. Only thing they can compete at is Basketball. I will admit I liked the ESPN game but thats because it was sold for like 30 bucks the first day it came out. No I'm not saying Madden doesnt suck, as we know it does, but still its not that we want 2K games, its that we want the competition to make Madden better.

@ above, you obviously haven't played the new Fifa or any recent NHL titles. Madden is the only sports title EA is sucking at updating, the rest are improving each year.

[dktxx2]

nfl 2k5 was amazing. way better and more realistic than today's madden. hell it had better animations than current madden games do (i am not even exaggerating by the way.)

And 2k's basketball game not only is better then EA's offering, it actually murdered it. so you can't say madden is the only EA sports game sucking at the moment.

[neo881]

If madden is the only sucky game please explain Ellite 11

[Soldierone]

Elite 11 never even released, and personally I always liked EA's NBA titles because they were more arcadish which makes basketball actually fun, instead of boring.

I played 2k5 and by no means was it realistic, it was fun, but not realistic. Plus Madden proves that realism is what people don't want, it got more realistic which made it more boring, and look now you are complaining. Cus it sucks.

If you want to defend 2k then explain these
-Why are they not competing with The Show at all, 2k's baseball game sucks in comparison. They even released an arcade version to make money.
-EA's NHl title not only improved, but its won sports game of the year several times on end.
-2K was on the verge of cancelling their NHL and baseball franchises due to low sales and bad reviews. NBA is nothing more than luck that the team is half way decent.

I have nothing against people liking 2K, to each man his own. But I don't like their sports titles, and a lot of other people don't, but they are good competition for EA to make better quality titles. They can be blamed for the same things EA gets blamed for, any company that releases yearly titles can be blamed even Activision. but its a business model that works, so too bad.

[iceman06]

The reason that the NFL approached EA during the "auctioning" of the license was because of the size of the company...i.e. EA was rich enough. There is definite collusion in this situation. The NFL was well aware that EA was lucrative beyond belief and would be able to outbid any competitor on the market. Thus, Take-Two and 2K games was squeezed out. So sure it was a greedy NFL. But, it was also in collusion with a desperate EA.
As for the quality of 2K games vs. EA sports, it is pretty subjective. But, 2K put out quality titles in both NFL and NCAA football, NCAA basketball, and their juggernaut in NBA 2K. IMO, they turned to the NHL and MLB to supplement losses from football. EA, on the other hand, had the Madden series as their juggernaut and NHL and FIFA to supplement it. It has only been in the past 2-3 iterations of each of these titles that EA has out shined it's competition. It has probably out performed them due to the EA Sports moniker and recognition alone.
In the end, I wish for competition AND a return of 2K in the arena of football. 2K5, although not perfect, was a revolutionary football title. It combined things both on and off the field that hadn't been seen in such a complete package. It was so good, for it's time, that Madden is STILL cherry picking features from it and claiming them to be NEW.

[SprSynJn]

These kids need lives.

[49erguy]

You have twice the comments as me (I got 200) on a video game website. We all need to get lives. Your point? We're all gamers here.

[ElVeneno]

Damn 49erguy I couldn't agree with you more. quit pretending like you're the "cool" one here.

[badz149]

dude, that's overkill!

[SprSynJn]

If you are comparing suing a game company to posting on a message board, then I honestly don't think anything can help you in life.

[49erguy]

Not only did I not compare anything, but I don't need "help in life." Way to respond 2 days later lol. Besides, WTF are you talking about? If my comment signifies that I need help in life, then you are so easily offended that I'm assuming you're a female.

I doubt you are a mature adult given your username, so I'll just drop it. My agrees vs your disagrees speaks for itself.

[Bolts]

This law suit is stupid. Suing EA for the NFL exclusivity is like suing Lucas Arts because Force Unleashed games suck. Plus there's too much blame on EA and not enough on the NFL. They're just as greedy if not more so and they'll continue to grant EA the rights as long as Madden continues to make zillions.

[chainer3000]

The NFL can sell it's licensing however it likes, there is nothing illegal with selling licensing rights, it happens in media daily.

[dktxx2]

The problem is it should be illegal. Hopefully this lawsuit can take some steps towards that. The NFL basically has a monopoly on Pro Football, and although it's a monopoly that will always exist no matter what anyone does, someone needs to step in and monitor it some. Very much like how Windows is treated. Microsoft has a near monopoly on the OS market, and in reality, its good that the world basically shares one single OS. However they need to be kept in check that they don't have too much power. Thus the government regulates Windows very strictly. Ever wonder why Microsoft gets no royalties from software developers developing Windows software? The government. You can't let the NFL abuse their Monopoly, even though it will always exist.

[Soldierone]

So, can I sue EA for breathing my air? Actually the only company that shouldn't breath my air is Activision so perhaps I can sue them instead.

[Cevapi88]

what does that even mean?

[badz149]

OMG! you produce Oxygen?

[49erguy]

I'm guessing you're an angry FPS gamer and not a football gamer perhaps?

[Soldierone]

Wow....i get disagrees and people bashing me for a joke. All new low for even N4G comments, now I see what im working with.

To ruin the joke, these gamers suing EA are completely stupid. Just like someone suing another person for breathing air. Get it now? Good, now its your bedtime. nighty night. sorry to be harsh, but come on its a joke.

[49erguy]

"now its your bedtime" Oh I get it. You and
SprSynJn (he's up a few posts) are using the same joke.

[256bit]

2k1 for dreamcast nuff said.

[Balt]

Is this a joke? Are people that dependant on gaming that they have to sue a company who supplies a damn service to you all? This cannot be happening. If I was the judge I'd tell these Poon Darts to get out of my courtroom and take in all the fresh air you can on the way back home.

What goobers. What mindless idiots. Mad at a company because they want football games made differently. Well, here's a clue, get off your fat asses, put down the Mountain Dew and candy bars and invest in some schooling and make your own.

That's the American way, though. Sue and sue more because you feel you're getting shafted by someone elses service. A service they supply at a fee and you have the option to

A) Buy it

or

B) Not buy it

They take A) and then bitch about it. Stupid ass morons.

[GoldPS3]

I wish I could join this law suit but I don't have the time or money to do so. I'm a NFL fan and I know how the gamers feel. We want a good NFL game. Not the same buggy shit every year. It's very sad that NFL 2K5 still is a better game than all the Madden games combined from 2006 on up.

The last Madden game I played was 08 which I bought from ebay. Right now I'm playing Back Breaker. Yeah it don't have NFL but it feels more like a football game than Madden will ever be.

[256bit]

to me its was nfl2k1 for the dreamcast and 2k3 which i got for the ps2 when it came out.

[nevin1]

Funny how Madden 2004 was the last good EA footbal game imo.

anyway @ soldier one, EA and 2K both made attempts at NFL but off course EA won. Then EA and 2K went after the NBA licences but NBA wanted competition. But 2K settled on MLB which caught EA by surprissed.

Im not sure this deal paid off unless the 360 version sales are good considereding it's the only baseball game on the platform. This deal sucks to me because MLB The Show hasn't been impressive to me since the 1st one i got which was The Show 07 for PS2. Im glad i paid nearly half off for 09 and 10. lol, there is no difference between the PS2 version vs the PS3 besides player models.

Its to bad not seeing MVP on PS3/360 as MLB The Show 11 big feature is analog controls? lame.

[Soldierone]

Either way, it was still the NFL that approached the companies for the contract. It WASNT EA that approached the NFL and paid for it, so people complaining that EA is at fault are wrong and are just looking for dumb reasons to bash EA.

2k is the only company that approached or secretly purchased a deal with a league, which was the MLB. EA had a MVP title in production that had to be cancelled due to 2K slipping behind them to get that deal. MVP Baseball was the better of the two games, and had strong sales, so EA obviously wouldn't let that one slide. The NHL and NBA just wanted companies to sign a deal to purchase rights to use their products, thus both companies get to keep making the games.

I agree The Show is starting to become a Madden by slightly improving each year, but its still the best baseball game on the market. However Sony's 989 studios had to shut down due to titles not improving at one point. Sony SD has also been rumored to be making a football game in the future, thus Madden could get competition from someone other than 2k.

BTW dont take this post the wrong way, im not bashing you. In fact I chose to reply to you for the last bubble because everyone else replying to me right now are acting childish and there is no point. At least you had valid points.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Good, I hate madden!

[Baka-akaB]

The same lawsuit should happen with the football rights and fifa .

[EpsilonTeam]

Fifa is a football sim because players use their feet 100%.. madden is a football sim because players use their uh mm hands 99%?

Confused!!!

[rapidturtle]

EA needs to put out a new Madden every 2 years. I would be more willing to pay $15 to $20 for second year roster updates, than pay $60 for it. Basically the only reason to buy them every year is for the roster updates. It is the same damn game year after year.
They are lucky that we the American consumers, are some of the dumbest consumers in the world. You could pretty much package dog shit, and with good advertising campaign, it would sell here, in the good ole USA.

[Smootherkuzz]

I will play Madden because its something to play,but I have not purchased the latest game mainly due to the fact that Backbreaker has filled the void that EA has created.BB has some issues but its a fresh new video game football that gives me my football fix.

[Sub-Zero85]

This is the first year I haven't bought a Football game at all. ...... every system I've owned from Nintendo with tecmo bowl & Super Tecmo Bowl, Madden on Super nes Madden & Joe Montana on Sega etc...... point is I'm fed up with EA garbage I will not buy another football game until 2K get a license deal

[Logan_2]

somebody need to sue Activision