Class Action Lawsuit against EA and the NFLPA!

The settlement will probably be a joke, just like how the GS lawsuit was settled, 5% off a game for all members of the lawsuit.

It will still be interesting to see what happens, I hate how EA killed the NFL 2K series.
 
I don't get their argument.

" Plaintiffs allege that this series of exclusive licenses caused customers who purchased certain football video games to be overcharged."

So they claim that EA overcharged for Madden/NCAA/Arena Football? Couldn't they claim that those titles were priced as every other title at the time?

If this actually wins, would every sports title be "over priced"?

This is stupid, but if it wins, I want my cut. >.>
 
I got this email today.

"Plaintiffs allege that this series of exclusive licenses caused customers who purchased certain football video games to be overcharged.
Defendant Electronic Arts has denied any liability and all allegations of misconduct. The Court has not decided whether the Defendants did anything wrong, and this Notice is not an expression of any opinion by the Court about the merits of any of the claims or defenses asserted by any party to this litigation."


"The certified class includes all persons who, during the period January 1, 2005 to the present, purchased the Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football League brand video games published by Electronic Arts with a release date of January 1, 2005 to the present. "

" Purchasers of software for mobile devices, persons purchasing directly from Electronic Arts, persons purchasing used copies of the relevant football video games, and Electronic Arts’ employees, officers, directors, legal representatives, and wholly or partly owned subsidiaries or affiliated companies are excluded from the class."


"If you do not want to be a class member, you must elect to opt out.
If you want to exclude yourself from the class, opt out, and keep your right to sue Defendant, you must take further action. (See below "How Do I Exclude Myself From the Class?")
To exclude yourself from the class, you must do so in writing or electronically via the Request Exclusion link above by June 25, 2011."

Link from the email
http://www.easportslitigation.com/

Email as a Web Page
http://view.exacttarget.com/?j=fe64...71c72&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe2916747762007f7d1c72&r=0



Thoughts? Sounds like everybody will get some money back if we win. I don't know the details, but I don't think we are going to win.
 
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[quote name='YoshiFan1']The settlement will probably be a joke, just like how the GS lawsuit was settled, 5% off a game for all members of the lawsuit.

It will still be interesting to see what happens, I hate how EA killed the NFL 2K series.[/QUOTE]
What is this GS lawsuit you speak of? What did it pertain to?

As far as settlements from class action suits, they're always a frickin' joke. If you have thousands(millions?) of people claiming on the suit then you're only going to get a pittance.

As for this suit, I could say that sports games are largely the same each year minus roster updates and maybe a couple minor tweaks, so to me they're ALWAYS overpriced compared to any competitors.:razz:

But I digress on that.;)

Oh and fuck EA. I'm still pissed about them buying Virgin Interactive in 1998 and killing Thrill Kill DAYS before it's release. Not to mention them changing Future Strike(third Strike series game on PS1) into Future Cop LAPD 2100. That game sucked balls.
 
[quote name='seen']I got the same email, hope we all win big![/QUOTE]

It's likely going to be a check for $10 or something like that. That's how all class actions end up working
 
I'd rather it be like some Class Action suits go, where the money is given to a charity relating to the cause instead of money going to numerous victims where everyone would get like $2.

I recall some class action law suits do end like that. In that case the charity would be Childs Play...but that's not really related to EA overcharging, just a gamers charity.
 
[quote name='HaLLuZiNaTiOnZ']I'd rather it be like some Class Action suits go, where the money is given to a charity relating to the cause instead of money going to numerous victims where everyone would get like $2.

I recall some class action law suits do end like that. In that case the charity would be Childs Play...but that's not really related to EA overcharging, just a gamers charity.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, especially on a case like this where anyone who purchased a football title knew how much they were paying and were ok with it at the time. No reason to give them any money back, give the lump sum of the pay out to a charity.
 
[quote name='musha666']Agreed, especially on a case like this where anyone who purchased a football title knew how much they were paying and were ok with it at the time. No reason to give them any money back, give the lump sum of the pay out to a charity.[/QUOTE]

I also agree. I'd rather it go to charity if it is anything under $20. I know what I payed for Madden and I got my moneys worth ($1 an hour at least). If it was $20 or more though, I'll give it right back to EA for the next Madden.
 
It was about GS selling used games as new, I think that employees could take home the games play them and then GS sold those same copies as new.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']It was about GS selling used games as new, I think that employees could take home the games play them and then GS sold those same copies as new.[/QUOTE]

They still do that lol.

As far as the EA thing. I wouldn't like the games cheaper but I can get why they aren't for both good and stupid reasons.

Also the contract for EA's license agreement ended/ends soon but because of the chance the NFL wont have a season, they got a big ol' discount on renewal.
 
[quote name='ExplodingRat']If this actually wins, would every sports title be "over priced"?
[/QUOTE]As IATCG pointed out: all sports simulation games are over priced.
That's why the price drops to 10% of the original price a year or two later (with the exception of golf games, I've noticed.)
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']It was about GS selling used games as new, I think that employees could take home the games play them and then GS sold those same copies as new.[/QUOTE]
Where was I when this happened? Not that I have taken very many of the gut copies over the years, but for those who have it's worth a bit more than a discount on some other game(s).:roll:

Usually if I took a gut copy it was something I knew I was going to personally play and I still nitpicked and if there was so much as even one fraction of a fingerprint on the disc I told them I didn't want it.

The way some of the gutted copies are handled, you'd think the clerks at the stores had never held a CD/DVD before as they seem to palm the entire bottom part of the disc and leave their hand print on it.:roll:
 
[quote name='dabamus']Doesn't the NFL/NFLPA contract end in 2012?

If so, interesting time to bring this up.[/QUOTE]

I believe they reupped.
 
[quote name='dabamus']Doesn't the NFL/NFLPA contract end in 2012?

If so, interesting time to bring this up.[/QUOTE]

It has been extended through 2013 because of the possibility of no season. This lawsuit is a joke. They are hopping EA will settle. And if I'm not mistaken 2k5 came out on ps2 & xbox. So the price of 2k5 wouldn't matter. Plus there has been other football games on this generations consoles.

Seems like their arguement is other fb games were cheaper than Madden. EA can charge anything they want it is a free market and the NFL & NFLPA has the right to enter into exclusive contracts just like any other business or person in this country.
 
Looks like a really stupid class action suit:

"Plaintiffs allege that this series of exclusive licenses caused customers who purchased certain football video games to be overcharged. Defendant Electronic Arts has denied any liability and all allegations of misconduct."

I'm not sure how it caused them to overcharge people when they sold the games at MSRP like everybody else.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Looks like a really stupid class action suit:

"Plaintiffs allege that this series of exclusive licenses caused customers who purchased certain football video games to be overcharged. Defendant Electronic Arts has denied any liability and all allegations of misconduct."

I'm not sure how it caused them to overcharge people when they sold the games at MSRP like everybody else.[/QUOTE]

Getting overcharged alone isn't really a cause of action as far as I know. There might be some other underlying complaint. If they manage to come up with an actual juduciable claim, I suppose they could argue that the game would have gone on sale or dropped in price sooner if their was competition. I'll be curious to see how they are going to argue an exclusive license runs foul of the law.

edit- I read the website, they are making antitrust claims. I am sure EA will fight this one hard, it could set a costly precedent. Also, damages will be incredibly difficult to calculate or even demonstrate. But firm filing the claim is very legit. One of their attorneys is lead counsel in the Toyota case and was involved in the big tobacco litigation. They also have a class action against the NCAA.
 
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I understood the suit challenges the exclusivity between the NFL and EA thus locking out any competitors (i.e. 2K Sports). Therefore there is no pricing pressure for Professional NFL franchise video games because there is no alternative other than Madden.

Not sure that it's a valid suit but I agree that the exclusivity sucks. I preferred the 2K product over Madden.
 
[quote name='Whizbang']I understood the suit challenges the exclusivity between the NFL and EA thus locking out any competitors (i.e. 2K Sports). Therefore there is no pricing pressure for Professional NFL franchise video games because there is no alternative other than Madden.

Not sure that it's a valid suit but I agree that the exclusivity sucks. I preferred the 2K product over Madden.[/QUOTE]

Monopoly = Illegal
 
That's the reason they've given. The complaint filed for this suit (http://www.easportslitigation.com/pdf/Complaint.pdf) specifically mentions that at the time, Madden 05 came out at $30 and after getting the license, they raised the priced to the $50 MSRP. They go on to say that EA could have continued to compete by sticking with those prices, but opted to buy the NFL license instead. That is false since the NFL themselves put the license up for bidding to become an exclusive license to several publishers (EA, Sega, and others) and 2K Sports also raised their prices back up to full price because it was a publicity stunt that worked out very well for them. They also ignore the new generation of consoles and the increased MSRP of the games and close out with the assumption that EA would be buying out 2K, so this thing is full of holes and shouldn't be hard to shoot down.
 
I also skimmed the complaint. They are actually claiming 2 types of injury. Obviously one is monetary. But they also say, "consumers would have enjoyed additional features and overall higher quality interactive football software." As far as pricing goes, they claim that EA was forced to lower their price to 30 bucks 3 months after 2k5 entered the market because that was 2k5's MSRP.

It's actually a stronger complaint then I was expecting.
 
APF2K8 kind of invalidates the "additional features and overall higher quality software" claim and the pricing claim is invalidated by 2K's pricing for their 2K6 line of games.

They would have a better chance if they sued the company that forced the exclusivity (NFL) and not the publisher that had the winning bid.
 
[quote name='silentevil']Seems like their arguement is other fb games were cheaper than Madden. EA can charge anything they want it is a free market and the NFL & NFLPA has the right to enter into exclusive contracts just like any other business or person in this country.[/QUOTE]

It's illegal to make exclusive agreements in order to keep prices high.
 
I don't care about the plaintiffs or EA, but I do hope this results in better NFL games. Madden titles get worse every single year.
 
They should also mention this garbage online pass that's been spreading like a virus. As far as I know 2k games don't do this yet, and if EA didn't have a monopoly on their cash cow Madden they might not have attempted such a scheme.
 
[quote name='doodofdoods']They should also mention this garbage online pass that's been spreading like a virus. As far as I know 2k games don't do this yet, and if EA didn't have a monopoly on their cash cow Madden they might not have attempted such a scheme.[/QUOTE]
That's just their attempt to stop used games, which will help their bottom line in the end no doubt, but that also means that some folks will just play their games offline and only play through the single player mode(s).
 
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