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Madden Creator Sues EA For Millions
Lot’s of video game developer feel that they don’t get properly reimbursed for their work, but the most recent lawsuit facing Electronic Arts stretches back more that two decades.
Robin Antonick was a programmer for EA back in the ‘80s, and he helped develop the original John Madden Football, which released in 1988 for Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. Accordig to a recent Reuters story, Antonick claims he signed a contract with EA in 1986 that stated he would receive royalties on any successive game that used the technology he had worked on. Antonick says his last royalty payment came in 1992, and that EA now owes him tens of millions of dollars.
But why wait this long to start collecting? The filed complaint states:
Only recently, as a result of publicity surrounding the 20th Anniversary of the 'Madden' videogame did Antonick become aware that Electronic Arts did not independently develop subsequent versions of its Madden NFL software. Instead, according to recent statements by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the current generation of software apparently derived from software developed by Antonick.
Sounds like a bit of a sticky situation. It will be interesting to see what the courts decide.
[Source: 1Up]
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