Madden Lawsuit: Creator Of First Madden Game Sues EA
Robin Antonick, the creator of the first Madden football game, is suing Electronic Arts for tens of millions of dollars he says he owed for royalties as well as, potentially, billions in profits.
In the suit, Antonick says he created the Madden football video game in 1988 when he made the first 11 on 11 video game for the Commodore 64, MS Dos, and Apple II platforms. He says he “developed the game both with programming expertise and knowledge of former Oakland Raiders head coach John Madden’s behavior in calling plays in certain game situations.”
“Only recently, as a result of publicity surrounding the 20th Anniversary of the Madden video game did Antonick become aware that Electronic Arts did not independently develop subsequent versions of its Madden NFL software,” says the complaint. “Instead, according to recent statements by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the current generation of software apparently derived from software developed by Antonick.”
Antonick says he hasn’t received a payment for the game since 1994, and now he would like disgorgement (a repayment of ill-gotten gains that is imposed on wrong-doers by the courts) of the series profits — that would add up to billions of dollars.
Football, as an entity, seems wrapped in legal squabbles right now, whether it’s this video game thing or the potential non-happening of the football season. I’m not much of a fan of these games, but I know plenty of people that this will make very, very sad. What do you guys think? Do you care about football?
