14 DAY TRIAL // A class action suit that was launched against video game publisher Electronic Arts because of its exclusive licensing deal with the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its football simulation was settled by the company.
The main result is that for five years after 2014 there’s a ban on any sort of exclusive license between the NCAA and EA Sports and any other company can also enter into a non-exclusive deal with the collegiate sporting association.
EA Sports is also banned from signing any sort of exclusive contracts with the Arena Football League for five years after 2014.
Because this is a class action lawsuit any players who purchased a Madden game from Electronic Arts since 2005 on the PlayStation 3 from Sony, the Xbox 360 from Microsoft or on the Nintendo Wii can claim 1.95 dollars (1.60 Euro) as part of the suit.
If the Madden title was launched on the first Xbox, the PlayStation 2 or the GameCube the amount is increased to 6.79 dollars (5.58 Euro).
No company other than Electronic Arts has launched an NCAAA-based American football game since 2002 when SEGA attempted to provide competition via SEGA’s College Football 2L3.
The Pecover vs. Electronic Arts lawsuit, which was launched in 2008, claimed that the exclusive NCAA license killed off any competition, eliminated the NFL 2K series and allowed EA to raise its prices because it was in a monopoly position.
The publisher has announced that it is currently setting aside 27 million dollars (22.2 million Euro) in order to cover expenses associated with the suit.
NCAA Football 13 was launched on the PS3 and the Xbox 360 on July 10 of this year and allows many players to preview the features that will be introduced in Madden NFL 13, one of the biggest video game releases of the year for Electronic Arts.