2k fans please read this

[bigsean981]

Northern California court allows Madden, NCAA, Arena Football anticompete class-action suit to proceed; hearing scheduled for January 14.

Electronic Arts' Madden NFL and NCAA Football franchises dominate the competition in their respective fields, mostly because the perennial bestsellers don't have any competitors to speak of. Soon, however, that may change, as a Northern California judge has ruled against EA's motion to dismiss a class-action suit that takes exception with the publisher's exclusivity licenses with the National Football League, the Arena Football League, and NCAA Football.
This situation could be resolved with a well-placed hug.

The suit, which was initially filed in June 2008 by a pair of gamers from Washington, DC, and California, alleges that EA has and continues to engage in "blatantly anticompetitive conduct" since 2004. At that time, EA and Take-Two Interactive released competing NFL Football products, resulting in a pricing war that saw Take-Two drop the price of its NFL 2K5 to $19.99 and EA cut Madden 2005's sticker tag to $29.95 in response.
However, the suit alleges that rather than continue the pricing war with Take-Two, EA secured the aforementioned exclusivity deals. With no Take-Two competitor the following year, the suit noted that Electronic Arts raised the price of Madden 2006 back to $49.95, an increase of nearly 70 percent. Madden NFL's current going rate retails for as much as $59.95.
As per the most recent ruling, which was first spotted by GamePolitics, a judge said that the plaintiffs' suit will be allowed to proceed, though he narrowed the applicable class to residents of the original filers' home regions of Washington, DC, and California.
"As the court understands these allegations, interactive football software will not sell if it does not use the names, logos and other markers of teams that actually compete in the NFL," the judge said in his ruling. "There is, in effect, no market for interactive football software in a virtual or fictitious setting. If true--as the court must at this point accept--this adequately alleges that there are no substitutes for interactive football software without the markers of actual teams and players."
Though the judge's decision is significant for the class, it is by no means an indication of the final outcome of the case. "The present complaint alleges that the names and logos of actual teams and players are essential to market interactive football software," the judge noted. "Whether plaintiffs will be able to back this allegation up with evidence is a matter left for another day."
That plaintiffs' motion for class certification is currently scheduled for September 24, with the full hearing expected to commence January 14, 2010.

[dickey1331]

this isnt going to change anything the NFL has the right to give its license to whoever it wants.

[mike24forever]

Pipe Dream. NFL can sell their licence to whom ever they want. No one, including EA is preventing anyone from making a football video game.

[sb24]

Been there read that (or very similar ones) these come up more than u think. use the search feature to find those threads

[reddawg60]

Quote: Originally Posted by ms24forever

Pipe Dream. NFL can sell their licence to whom ever they want. No one, including EA is preventing anyone from making a football video game.

thats not the point of the suit.


alleges that EA has and continues to engage in "blatantly anticompetitive conduct" since 2004

However, the suit alleges that rather than continue the pricing war with Take-Two, EA secured the aforementioned exclusivity deals.

with anticompetitive being the key word there.

[Bellsprout]

The NFL has the right to sell it's license to the highest bidder.

Same for the NCAA.

Same for the Arena league.

EA is doing nothing illegal and nothing will change. Buying licenses isn't "anticompetitive behavior", it's good business.

[mike24forever]

Quote: Originally Posted by reddawg60

thats not the point of the suit. alleges that EA has and continues to engage in "blatantly anticompetitive conduct" since 2004 However, the suit alleges that rather than continue the pricing war with Take-Two, EA secured the aforementioned exclusivity deals. with anticompetitive being the key word there.

I understand the point of the law suit. It still won't go anywhere. Sorry to say, it's just a 2K fans pipe dream. I miss the old days, however EA is making football and other companies are choosing not to. Well...maybe Backbreaker.

[capn_razzamataz]

Quote: Originally Posted by dickey1331

this isnt going to change anything the NFL has the right to give its license to whoever it wants.

Quote: Originally Posted by ms24forever

Pipe Dream. NFL can sell their licence to whom ever they want. No one, including EA is preventing anyone from making a football video game.

Quote: Originally Posted by WeAreAllWitnesses

The NFL has the right to sell it's license to the highest bidder. Same for the NCAA. Same for the Arena league. EA is doing nothing illegal and nothing will change. Buying licenses isn't "anticompetitive behavior", it's good business.

This isn't about any entity's rights to sell their licenses. It's about EA buying up ALL of the major licenses in football. You're all absolutely right in that the NCAA, AFL, and NFL can sell to whoever they want to, but that's not what this lawsuit is about. The fact that EA actively/blatantly went after the NCAA football and AFL licenses right after the NFL offered them exclusivity (presumably to corner the whole licensed football videogame market, not just the NFL videogame market) is what is going to be challenged.