Uh-Oh: EA Lawsuit Gains Steam after Ruling in Original Madden Designer’s Favor

The original Madden game designer has a bone to pick with EA and his case is starting to look pretty good.

While EA’s Madden series has been pretty much unassailable in terms of competition from other football video games, it hasn’t fared so well in court.

Recommended Videos

At least, not today.

A jury in U.S. District court, according to GameSpot.com, ruled that the statue of limitations for a lawsuit claim made by the original Madden designer has not expired, meaning that he can proceed in suing the video game giant. 

Antonick began the lawsuit in April 2011 after discovering that the same code base he created in the first Madden (in 1988) was still being used – despite him not receiving any royalties since 1995.

At the time of the suit, EA had sold something to the tune of 90 million versions of the game in retail. Combining the royalties and revenues owed to the gamemaker could have ended up with a multimillion – if not billion – dollar settlement for the former game developer. However, Antonick’s sights are on a little bit of a lower number: 16 million in damages and 200 million in game profits, according to GameSpot.com.

“In today’s ruling, the jury tackled the statute of limitations, specifically whether the deadline for filing a lawsuit had already passed. It found in Antonick’s favor, ruling that he did not suspect any wrongdoing by EA before 2005,” Antonick’s legal representation said in a statement. “It also found that a reasonable person would not have known about the claims before 2005.”

Antonick’s lawyer, Rob Carey, said the legal team was confident that they would win the suit, now that it has been proven to be a legitimate case against EA.

“Now the case goes to the merits, where we have irrefutable evidence,” Carey continued. “We are confident that we will be able to demonstrate that EA failed to live up to its agreement with Mr. Antonick and lied to him about the use of his protected work product in the games.”

 


GameSkinny is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Predator: Hunting Grounds Will Get New Content With IllFonic Takeover
Predator watching prey from the treetops.
Read Article Overwatch 2 Introduces Its First Free Hero in Season 10
Venture holding her drill and Baptise, Zarya, Pharah, and Lifeweaver standing behind her
Read Article Horror Becomes Educational by Teaching Morse Code in SOS: Forgotten Planet
A monster behind a door marked M
Read Article Pocketpair Announced the 10 Most Popular Pals in Palworld
Player looks up to Quivern in Palworld
Read Article Elder Scrolls 6 Gets an Update on the Series’ 30th Anniversary
Eleder Scrolls wizard casting green magic
Related Content
Read Article Predator: Hunting Grounds Will Get New Content With IllFonic Takeover
Predator watching prey from the treetops.
Read Article Overwatch 2 Introduces Its First Free Hero in Season 10
Venture holding her drill and Baptise, Zarya, Pharah, and Lifeweaver standing behind her
Read Article Horror Becomes Educational by Teaching Morse Code in SOS: Forgotten Planet
A monster behind a door marked M
Read Article Pocketpair Announced the 10 Most Popular Pals in Palworld
Player looks up to Quivern in Palworld
Read Article Elder Scrolls 6 Gets an Update on the Series’ 30th Anniversary
Eleder Scrolls wizard casting green magic
Author
Nick Fouriezos
I'm a freelance journalist who loves sports, gaming and creative writing. I'm also a GameSkinny intern and right now I'm playing unhealthy amounts of NBA2k12, Halo 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Check out more of my work at nick4iezos.com.