Electronic Arts Sued by Madden Creator
The creator of the Madden NFL video game, Robin Antonick, has sued Electronic Arts, seeking millions in unpaid royalties. The complaint, a copy of which can be seen here courtesy of Courthouse News Service, provides interesting details surrounding the creation of the video game, which was first developed for the Commodore 64. Antonik claims that his groundbreaking development of a football video game involving 11 players on each team was thought to be impossible, due to processing power limitations of hardware at the time (the first game was released in 1988).
Antonik seeks tens of millions of dollars in royalties. The Complaint alleges that Electronic Arts has sold 85 million copies of the various versions of the game, totaling approximately $4 billion dollars. The main contract, signed in 1986, lowered Antonik’s royalties from the 1983 contract, in exchange for a promise of long-term royalties, although at a lower rate. The royalty rate for Antonik’s product was reduced to 7%, and he received only 1% on derivative works. Antonik essentially claims that the current versions of the Madden game are not independent versions but follow the programming he developed, and therefore not “derivative works.”
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