Madden: Class Action Lawsuit Edition!

On 04/18/2013 at 08:37 AM by NintendoFanJon

So, anyways I've recently been reading some news and stumbled upon a unique article. Someone may have already covered it here, but I find these articles and website fascinating.

http://m.ign.com/articles/2013/04/15/madden-ncaa-class-action-lawsuit-extended

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/ea-triple-payments-football-game-class-action-suit-183020408.html

http://www.easportslitigation.com/

Okay so before you go clicking upon the links, here's what all the articles are referring to:

If you are in the United States and bought a new copy of an Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football videogame for Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, PC, or Wii, with a release date of January 1, 2005 to June 21, 2012, your rights may be affected. Apparently some frustrated gamers decided in 2011 to file a class action lawsuit against EA over what they essentially believe is the monopolization of the Madden franchise along with over charging for a stagnating product.

EA, if they lose this case has claimed it will pay over $27 million dollars to those who file the appropriate claims by May 15. (Must be a lotta claims filled out so far) In fact that's all you need to do. If you head to the claims section on the plaintiff website and say bought a new copy of Madden 2008...you may be entitled to monetary compensation if this case is in favor of the plaintiff. Of course there are stipulations. You could not have bought the game used, directly from EA, or be an EA employee.

I've been fairly biased towards the Madden franchise myself. I haven't bought a single Madden since 2005 myself due to it's incredibly bland yearly updates. But you know now that I think about it...if I filed a claim let's say...for instance I've bought Madden 2006-2012 (7 games) NCAA 2006-2012 (another 7) and whatever arena games (didn't know there was an arena football game tbh)

Basically I'm entitled anywhere between $5.85 per game (per seventh generation) which is about $40 and $20 per game (per sixth generation) which would be at least $150...so I stand to get $190 if I file a claim...which I guess is better than nothing.

I'm unsure about how many people know of this lawsuit or how many people have that much of a problem with EA or their respective football games, but if it's got a chance to net at least $200 then I'm sure there are many people jumping at the chance. I for one am intrigued by how this will turn out. Anyways I want to know my fellow pixlbit community thoughts on this.

Is it a good idea? Will you be filing a claim? Do you absolutely love Madden and see no fault? Be sure to leave a comment!

Chris Yarger Community Manager

04/18/2013 at 09:11 AM

I was pondering the idea of filing a claim since I've bought a new EA Sports game every other year (I normally buy every two years, so I have Madden '07, '09, '11, and '13). But I don't have anything to show them in regards to purchasing them 'new' (Ie, receipts) and I've also traded a fair amount of them back in. So I don't know if it'll be worth my time or not to be honest.

NintendoFanJon

04/18/2013 at 05:10 PM

I can see the point as to it just not being worth the time for some people. But I suppose others really do feel gypped about how stagnated the franchise has become. I've heard that the wii versions were incredibly awful.

jgusw

04/18/2013 at 03:17 PM

I don't know the details, but couldn't all those people just not buy the game or return their copies for a refund after not being satisfied with the game. I'm not a big fan of football and hadn't played a Madden game since the late 90s and even I know those games are pretty much the same thing (outside of a console generation jump) with little more than a roster update every year. I don't understand why so many people buy them every year. I mean...., EVERY YEAR. You're not satisfied and yet you still buy it every year?

04/18/2013 at 05:20 PM

I guess that it's more about the principle of the matter? I'm with you in not having bought a Madden game in years, but it's the fault of both parties I suppose. I mean it's like people who buy Call of Duty year after year, but at least there is also Battlefield to compete with it. Maybe the issue isn't so much that Madden is the same thing year after year, it's that there is really nothing else to play.

04/18/2013 at 06:31 PM

I guess I can understand that. But, is that EA's fault or the NFL's? They are the ones that sold exclusive rights to EA.

04/19/2013 at 10:17 AM

I think we could both agree both parties are at fault equally. Both saw the potential amount of money they could stand to make from the deal. The NFL I know is all about extending it's reach for it's brand (such as with the NFL channel available only on DirecTV) Where as EA saw an oppurtunity to rid itself of competition and make tons of money.

04/19/2013 at 07:51 PM

I wonder, if another company released a football game without a NFL license, would it sell? Some games did very well without the license in the past. I guess publishers are too scared to take the chance now-a-days. A good football game is a good football game with or without the NFL license. I'd buy the game just to spite Madden.

04/20/2013 at 07:34 AM

Well that's certainly an interesting take. If I can remember when the last 2K football in 2005 came in along with the Gameday or Blitz series were certainly in decline. I mean 2K made that last ditch effort to sell it for $20 forcing EA to sell Madden 2005 for $30 and it still wasn't enough. (Due to EA signing the deal of course due to the sales of 2K eating away at Madden sales.) Even the All Pro 2k8 couldn't help bring them back. I'm more than welcome to a new football game series. Maybe 2k can come back and actually get EA to you know "actually try" and make a good Madden game if this case is successful.

Super Step Contributing Writer

04/18/2013 at 03:34 PM

I'm with jgusw on not buying it, but at the same time, I hope this does wind up bringing attention to the fact they are monopolizing a portion of an industry (NFL-licensed games) and that comes to a stop, but I don't buy the games anyway, and kind of doubt it.

Always hope, though.

04/18/2013 at 05:25 PM

I think EA has brought enough attention to itself with it's various practices such as the Sim City fiasco, etc. I'm with you in hopes that it takes away the monopoly of NFL licensed content. One can only imagine what it will do for other company licensed deals such as the WWE license or even MLB.

BrokenH

04/19/2013 at 08:07 PM

So, could Dynasty Warriors be the next franchise to come into legal troubles for something like this? Don't get me wrong. I'm happy with every musou game I've ever bought but by this kind of logic any long running franchise can be sued merely for being a long running franchise.

Now, if the Madden license is also being sued for being a monopoly that doesn't allow other companies to make NFL football games it's a bit more logical. For example, though Tecmo/Koei pumps out hack n slashers based on Asian history and mythology, I don't think they cornered that market. If they did games like Sengoku Basara and Onechanbara Kagura wouldn't exist.

Is EA trying to claim only it can make NFL themed football games? If so that's a bit pretentious even if they have the license.

But think about it, every franchise will be "more of the same" to some extent. Can gamers really sue over that? It's kind of ridiculous. If I ever got tired of Dynasty Warriors for example, I'd simply stop buying them. Are these gamers saying they have no free wills of their own?

04/20/2013 at 07:49 AM

I don't believe many other series are in trouble, but it's worth a note that if something comes of this we could see similar suits like I said with the WWE license which is exclusive to 2K now. I think it's only going to be the case if people get fed up with those long running series that literally have no other competition. From what I understand the whole basis of the case is that EA & the NFL in terms of signing the exclusivity deal ensured a monopoly if you will and created a stagnating yearly product at a $50-$60 rate when with competition they had to drop down to $30.

I'm not sure if EA is claiming the rights to any and all football games, but you'd be inclined to believe so with how Madden has come along since it started out. As for the gamer opinion I agree that people should just band together and not buy the game pure and simple. If gamers really wanted to make a statement on a franchise that they feel is more of the same year in and year out, then just don't buy it. But the average consumer will always buy the new Madden cuz "Hey it's new and there's no other football game out there to play!" I'm not sure it's a free will issue per say.

Like I said before, competition breeds innovation and/or copying. If for say Dynasty Warriors didn't have Sengoku Basara or Onechanbara and Tecmo/koei took a EA Madden approach at changing the formula with very minor updates every year I could certainly see people saying to themselves "Well it's the same Dynasty Warriors except that they added one character!" I'm not sure I can say either way whether or not that is the case as I haven't played a single Warriors/ Sengoku game with the exception of the 3rd that was available for Wii.

PixlBit