Football gamers sue EA over 'anticompetitive' Madden

BOOM! And just like that, gamers hope to return NFL video game prices to more agreeable levels, you know -- the ones that used to exist during the football wars of the early 2000s.

The Madden NFL Monopoly

The Madden NFL Monopoly

According to the East Bay Times, a class-action lawsuit has been filed in California and Washington D.C. against publishing giant Electronic Arts for what the plaintiffs call "anticompetitive conduct."

The suit claims EA raised the price of Madden 2006 by 70 percent after it closed an exclusive deal with the NFL, a deal that left all game publishers, including Take-Two's popular 2K football series, unable to use the NFL license in the foreseeable future.

"Electronic Arts could have continued to compete by offering a lower price and/or a higher quality product," the suit says. "Instead, Electronic Arts quickly entered into a series of exclusive agreements with the only viable sports football associations in the United States: the National Football League, the Arena Football League, and NCAA Football."

Amid fierce competition from NFL 2K5 (which retailed for just $19.95), EA lowered the price of Madden NFL 2005 from $49.95 to $29.95.

THE VERDICT by Blake Snow Blake Snow's Avatar This one's for you, NFL 2K fans.

Comments [75]

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Dadavinci

Apparantly on the Monopoly thing, they're buying Property so EA Pays up or they go to jail?

armyntt

Why is EA at fault? NFL put its product up for sale and EA won the auction. If 2k had the $ they would be the anti-competitive company. BTW i still like madden and people who diss it probably dont play it. They just knock cause they get creamed by the guys who like it.

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