For the last six years, EA has had a monopoly on football videogames. About six years ago EA signed an exclusive deal with the NFL and NCAA so that only EA would be able to develop football videogames based on these organizations. Ever since then, EA has dominated the football market. This is not fair to consumers, because we have seen some of the worst-playing football games ever during that period of time. The only reason consumers buy the football games from EA each year is because they have no other practical choice.
The reason EA spent all this money buying exclusive legal rights for football games is because of the tough competition that existed in 2005. Virtually everyone agrees that the best football game ever released was NFL 2K5 for the Xbox. During this period of time, EA was absolutely devastated when the NFL 2K series was outselling their Madden football series. Consumers were being rewarded with high-quality software at a lower price with the NFL 2K series, all thanks to the competition between two game companies.
The Madden football games weren’t being outsold because they were bad. The fact is that the Madden football games were being outsold because the NFL 2K games were better and less expensive, all due to the excellent competition between the two products. Unfortunately, EA was not willing to allow this type of competition to exist. EA missed the days of monopoly they had before the NFL 2K series was born in late 1999.
EA didn’t care if quality games were released or not; they just wanted to dominate the market the way they did in the past. EA used their financial power to work a deal out with the NFL and the NCAA so that only their games could be based on those organizations, those stadiums, those teams, those players etc… Ever since EA did this, the football games have gotten progressively worse.
EA now realizes they have a monopoly on the market of football videogames. This means consumers of those football games have no practical choice but to buy EA games whether they are good or not. Consumers have been aware of this since 2005, and have gradually become angrier towards EA since the football games have gotten worse each year. Each year since 2005, the hatred towards EA has grown because of EA’s greed and selfish behavior.
People now realize that EA doesn’t care about making the best football game possible. EA’s primary concern is to make sure that their football games dominate the sales market and earn as much money as possible. The hatred towards EA has finally reached the point that consumers have stood up for themselves. Thankfully, consumers have decided to file a class action lawsuit against EA.
In this class action lawsuit against EA, the plaintiff claims that consumers were overcharged due to the monopoly EA had on the market. If you have purchased an EA Sports videogame between January 1, 2005 and the present, you are legally involved in this class action lawsuit! The law states that at this point in time you basically have two options.
Your first option is to “Remain A Class Member.” If you do nothing from this point on you acknowledge that the decisions made in the courtroom also apply to you. You are legally allowed to appear in court and there is no cost to you. If you want, you can even hire your own attorney. You are eligible to share any type of recovery or settlement. You are bound by the decisions of the court ruling in this matter and the attorneys are allowed to take (i.e., steal) over 25% the money in the ruling.
Your second option is to “Exclude Yourself.” If you would like to independently take EA to court, you must opt out of the class action lawsuit prior to June 25, 2011. If you opt out of the class action lawsuit, you are not entitled to share in its settlement or recovery claims. However, you are still entitled to your own form of recovery against EA if you take them to court on your own. You can opt out electronically at the website listed below, or you can opt out in writing at this address:
Electronic Arts Litigation Exclusion
P.O. Box 8090
San Rafael, CA 94912-8090
You can read about the lawsuit from the point of view of the law firm suing EA here: http://www.hbsslaw.com/newsroom/?nid=1993
You can also read about this legal matter and see a clear explanation of your legal options on the EA website here: http://www.easportslitigation.com/
