Jury Rules Original Madden Designer Eligible for Unpaid Royalties

A jury ruled today in favor of Robin Antonick, the original designer and developer of Madden NFL Football today in his quest to receive royalties he says he is owed from the Madden NFL series.

In today's ruling, the jury tackled the statute of limitations issue and came back with a ruling in Antonick's favor, sending the case a step closer to resolution. The jury will have to determine now what (if anything) to award Antonick out of $200 million in revenues for games released between 1990 and 1996. A separate phase of the trial will determine damages relating to the 1997-2013 games.

In the case, Antonick alleges that he signed a series of publishing and development contracts, which culminated in a 1986 agreement that requires EA to pay Antonick royalties on any derivative works related to the original version of Madden NFL.

Antonick is seeking a dollar amount in the millions.

“This is a major validation of Mr. Antonick’s testimony,” said Rob Carey, Antonick’s attorney. “This was by far EA’s strongest defense, and the jury’s verdict unanimously supported Mr. Antonick, which also means the jury probably thinks some significant information was concealed.”

While it is doubtful the end result will have much of an impact on the Madden franchise as a whole, we are expecting to hear much more from this case in the coming weeks as it continues to march onwards towards some semblance of a resolution.